Samuel Montembeault's value to the Montreal Canadiens just got a blunt public assessment.
Pierre McGuire addressed the situation on the Sick Podcast, specifically what happens if Jacob Fowler sticks with the NHL roster.
"At one point, in order to send Montembeault down to the AHL, he has to go on waivers," McGuire said.
"I don't think that he would clear, and that would open up more cap room for Montreal," he added.
That's a real complication. Montreal can't simply option him to Laval the way it could with a younger, waiver-exempt goaltender.
McGuire didn't stop at roster mechanics. He went straight at Montembeault's actual trade value next.
"His value is truly the cap space," McGuire said. "The truth is he's not getting traded for a 1st-2nd round pick, he's not getting traded for an established player."
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Samuel Montembeault trade rumors explode after Pierre McGuire's comments
"So where's his actual value? His value is cap space," McGuire said, closing the point bluntly.
That framing lines up with the numbers. Montembeault posted a .873 save percentage across 25 games last season, the softest mark among Montreal's three NHL goaltenders.
Jakub Dobes played more and finished at .901, while Fowler posted a .908 save percentage in his own limited appearances.
Montembeault still carries a $3,150,000 cap hit, the most expensive number in a crease that clearly no longer needs him at that price.
Is McGuire right that cap relief is genuinely the best outcome left here, or does a trade market still exist somewhere?
It's the workplace equivalent of keeping someone on payroll mainly because letting them go frees up more budget than replacing them would.
Edmonton has already been floated as a potential trade partner given its own ongoing goaltending search this offseason.
My take: when an insider says a player's only real value is the money he frees up, that's about as clear a signal as it gets that a trade needs to happen soon.
Camp is close, and Montreal's crease decision looks less like a choice at this point and more like a problem waiting on someone else to solve it.
Should the Canadiens trade Samuel Montembeault purely for the cap relief?
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