Canadiens Questionably Cut Fowler and Keep Montembeault

The argument is, with training camp being so short and sample sizes being so small, it seems odd for the Canadiens to cut their goalie of the future, who had begun to establish himself as an NHL regular last season, over Montembeault, who has a single year left under contract, before he becomes an unrestricted free agent. There’s no disputing Montembeault had a statistically better camp. However with only two goals separating their individual performances, coming against incomplete NHL rosters, it’s hardly a definitive assessment of their respective abilities.

For example, on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators, Montembeault faced only three NHL regulars in Ben Hutton, Nikolas Matinpalo, and Ridly Greig. Only one of those, Greig, is a forward. He’s also the only one who scored over six goals last season, when he tied his career-high 13.

For additional context, Montembeault is coming off a horrible regular 2025-26 regular season, during which he compiled a 10-8-4 record with a 3.43 goals-against average (GAA) and .872 SV%. Looking back to the 2025 preseason, Montembeault admittedly had a bad showing, when he earned an .877 SV% through three appearances, which some may interpret as foreshadowing what was to come. However, if you were to take away the five goals he allowed in a single 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who didn’t end up making the playoffs, further speaking to how much the outcomes of these games mean (not a lot), his overall performance was nearly as statistically spectacular as his this fall (.938 SV%).

Price Struggled in Preseason Once Upon a Time

It goes to show how slim the margin of error can be and how little should be invested in preseason performances, with Hockey Hall of Famer Carey Price infamously telling fans to “chill out” back in 2010, as a 23-year-old, when he allowed four goals on nine shots in a 4-2 preseason loss to the Boston Bruins. Price went on to post his best season up to that point in his career in 2010-11, going 38-28-6 with a 2.35 GAA and .923 SV%.

Ultimately, especially with the Canadiens having traded Jaroslav Halak the previous offseason, Price was always going to make that team. This year, the same holds true for Jakub Dobes, who helped lead the Habs into the playoffs and to Round 3 last season. He was always going to make this year’s squad, despite posting the worst numbers this preseason of the three goalies (.857 SV%). Until the games actually matter, you just don’t know.

Obviously, this isn’t a suggestion Dobes will compete for the Vezina Trophy or anything. However, based on how he performed down the stretch, when the games meant the most, he earned a roster spot this season. Montembeault, who last saw the net the night of last season’s trade deadline, giving up five on 33 shots in a 6-5 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks, in which he allowed several bad goals, arguably shouldn’t have.

Fowler Remains More Valuable to Habs

True, Montembeault ultimately forced the Canadiens’ hand here. He performed as well as he possibly could have. However, based on the team’s decision to hold Fowler back despite him allowing just two additional goals this preseason, it logically would have taken a really bad showing on the former’s part for the Habs to make any other choice. In the end, they chose what made the most logistical sense in the short term over what made the most logical sense over the long, seeing as they consciously went with a Dobes-Fowler tandem in the playoffs.

Those are the two goalies the Canadiens trusted the most when the chips were down… and, with Montembeault having a single year left under contract, it should be hard for the Habs to objectively justify choosing him over Fowler, when the rookie has proven he belongs at this level and should factor into the future of this team to a larger extent looking past 2026-27. Montembeault shouldn’t at all.

It’s true Montembeault put together a very good 2024-25, during which he went 31-23-7 with a 2.80 GAA and .902 SV% (finishing among the league leaders in goals saved above expected). However, in retrospect, it was only that single season of his now five with the team during which he stood out statistically (for the better).

In keeping Montembeault, who was the team’s starter for most of last season, they’re effectively signalling that they intend to split starts between him and Dobes similar to in the past in 1A/1B fashion. If that is in fact the Canadiens’ intent and they are planning to give Montembeault a significant amount of starts, those are starts that arguably should be going to Fowler instead, looking at what makes sense from a big-picture perspective. If not, all it amounts to is a step backward, albeit a small one, for the franchise, especially if, in going with Montembeault, they end up leaving points on the table in an ultra-competitive division.

This could all still be a temporary solution. There could be designs on giving Montembeault games now to showcase him for the purposes of an eventual trade. However, when Jonas Johansson, a goalie with similar career numbers as Montembeault, albeit in far fewer games played, was just traded within the division for future considerations, it becomes abundantly clear the goaltending market isn’t great.

Some may argue Montembeault, as a one-time starter, should fetch more. Possibly, but how much more? Enough that it was worth it to hold your future in Fowler back? All due respect to Montembeault and all he’s accomplished in writing the quintessential feel-good underdog story as a one-time waiver-wire pick-up, but that’s unlikely. When the ideal scenario involves Montembeault performing well enough just to earn the Canadiens a mid-round draft pick, it speaks to the organization having lost the plot. Hopefully critical games don’t follow.