Breaking bold statement on the next number one goalie of the Montreal Canadiens

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Elias Edmonson
June 11, 2023 (11:09)

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Last Tuesday, social media shook when it was mentioned that the Flyers were considering trading their young goaltender Carter Hart. That was enough to stir up the fans of the Habs, most of whom would like to see the young goaltender with their favorite team.

However, the fans have short memories. As recently as last week, the vast majority of them were assigning pole position in goals to Samuel Montembeault.

Armed with a strong end of the season and, above all, an excellent World Hockey Championship, the Quebecer seems to have taken a big leap in his progress this year.

Mathias Brunet, a journalist for La Presse, is one of those who always gives the lead to Montembeault, compared to Hart. Here's why, and his statement is very clear:

We always like goaltender who are elsewhere. Hart is 24 years old and hasn't had a great start to his career, and now, you have Samuel Montembeault who has had a good season, given the circumstances. There was a big World Championship, I think we underestimate Montembeault a lot, he's the number one goaltender. - Mathias Brunet

It's true that the grass is always greener on the other side, but does that necessarily mean it's better? Not necessarily.

Hart, for whom hopes were very high upon his arrival in the NHL, has had an acceptable, if not more, start to his career. In his first two seasons in the NHL, he had an efficiency of .917 and .914, but has never been able to do as well since. In 55 games this season, which was his 5th in the NHL, he accumulated an average of 2.94 and an efficiency of .907.

Acquiring Hart is also acquiring his contract, which still has another season to its credit, at $3.979M. The goalie will then become a restricted free agent.

Could Hart return to being the goalie he once was? Maybe, but it's a huge risk to take.

Kent Hughes will therefore have to choose between a goaltender he already owns and knows very well in Samuel Montembeault, and acquiring one, with no certainty of what the future holds. Trading for Hart could be costly, while Montembeault will only cost a contract, which will be roughly the same as Hart's, or even less.

Do you agree with Brunet's statement?

Here it is, in full:

More details will follow.