Propelled into the role of starting goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens due to injuries last season, Quebecer Samuel Montembeault was granted a two-year, one-way contract extension on Monday.
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The 25-year-old masked man’s salary has not been disclosed, but TVA Sports hockey expert Renaud Lavoie said he will earn $ 1 million per season.
Selected on waivers for the Florida Panthers to back up Jake Allen in Carey Price’s absence early in the campaign, Montembeault certainly saw more action than expected when Allen suffered a lower-body injury.
Behind a team that seemed unable to compete at times and which let him down a few times, he was sometimes brilliant, sometimes generous. A wrist injury suffered in January and for which he had surgery after the campaign certainly did not help.
In 38 games, including 30 starts, Montembeault posted an 8-18-6 record, a 3.77 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage.
By virtue of a fine junior career with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, Montembeault was a third round selection – the 77th overall – of the Panthers in 2015. In 63 career games, he boasts a record of 17-26 -9 and a rate of .892. He had his only shutout in the blue-white-red uniform last season.
