The Montreal Canadiens and their goalie Samuel Montembeault have gone in a lot of different directions in recent months.
At this point, demotions and promotions and trade rumors all seem par for the course.
But as the Habs get their 2026-27 NHL season rolling in earnest, it’ll be interesting to track whether they continue.
In some ways, Montembeault may have put the rumors to rest with his strong preseason play to earn himself a job behind Jakub Dobes.
But in other ways, his contract could still dictate a trade this season.
Things change quickly in the NHL, but Montembeault’s trade rumors don’t seem to be going anywhere.
Samuel Montembeault Trade Rumors
Montembeault looked like a goner midway through last season, something noted in a new trade board by Bleacher Report’s Lyle Richardson.
He was the starter for Montreal, and then lost that gig to Dobes, and then lost the backup job to Jacob Fowler.
At the same time, it was a catch-22 — could Montembeault return good value coming off a bad year?
He wasn’t moved immediately, giving him a chance to win his job back.
“Montembeault was considered a trade candidate during the summer, but his poor 2025-26 campaign hurt his value to other clubs,” Richardson writes. “Following a strong camp and preseason, the 29-year-old Montembeault remained with the Canadiens while Fowler was sent down to their AHL affiliate in Laval.”
Even winning the backup job hasn’t stopped the rumors.
“Nevertheless, trade speculation still dogged Montembeault during training camp,” Richardson writes. “During a Sept. 17 appearance on The Jason Gregor Show, NHL insider Frank Seravalli boldly predicted the Canadiens goalie would be the first player traded this season. Seravalli’s prediction didn’t pan out, but that doesn’t mean Montembeault won’t be moved this season. He’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and a strong performance could improve his value as a rental player in the trade market.”
The fact that his contract is up at the end of the season remains the greatest reason to believe that Montembeault will still be traded.
Trade Board Ranking
The aforementioned Lyle Richardson of B/R has Montembeault in the No. 6 spot on his latest NHL trade board, released Oct. 1.
That suggests both that he thinks Richardson is a valuable trade asset and also that he believes there’s a decent chance a trade ends up happening.
Just because Montembeault isn’t quite as far out of favor in Montreal doesn’t mean everything is OK. He still isn’t as important to the Habs as he used to be.
They’ll just need to find a team that still believes in Montembeault, and the latest feelings on a trade of the goalie could come to fruition.
Canadiens’ Samuel Montembeault Trade Rumors Aren’t Gone Yet