Jacob Fowler might be catching a flight back to Laval this summer, and the Canadiens have a three-goalie problem to blame for it.
On Wednesday, The Sick Podcast's Stu Cowan broke down how Montreal's crease could look once training camp opens.
NHL rosters only carry two goalies through the season, not three, and that math is driving all the speculation right now.
So who gets squeezed out?
"They're not going to start with three goalies," Cowan said alongside Tony Marinaro. He expects Jakub Dobes to take over as the clear No. 1.
If Samuel Montembeault isn't traded before then, Cowan sees him sliding into the backup job, with Fowler ticketed for the AHL.
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Dobes played 43 games this season and posted a .901 save percentage, the number Cowan's prediction leans on.
Samuel Montembeault emerges as trade chip in Habs' crowded crease
Fowler, only 21, actually beat that mark with a .908 save percentage and a shutout across 17 appearances.
Montembeault posted a .873 mark in 25 games, the shakiest number of the three and the one that makes him the obvious trade candidate.
He also carries a $3,150,000 cap hit, more than three times what Dobes and Fowler combine for on their entry-level deals.
That gap alone gives Kent Hughes a real incentive to move him if another club needs goaltending help before the season starts.
Head coach Martin St-Louis has stayed quiet publicly on how he plans to divide starts, but a crowded crease rarely stays crowded for long.
Carrying three goalies who can all play is like signing three lead singers for one microphone. Somebody always ends up standing off to the side.
The Canadiens finished 48-24-10 for 106 points and the sixth overall spot in the league, proof this group can win with any of the three between the pipes.
None of it is settled. Montembeault could be wearing a different sweater before camp opens, and Fowler could just as easily play his way back before the puck ever drops.
Should the Canadiens trade Samuel Montembeault this summer?
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