Saturday, July 02, 2016

Montoya Makes for Busy Montreal Crease



It did seem a little odd that when Al Montoya left Florida for unrestricted free agency, that he would try and look for a new home that would give him a greater chance at being a number one goalie.  Instead, he signed with the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, who gave him a 1-year, $950,000 deal, to try and fill into the 2A or 2B spot, behind Carey Price.

Montoya is certainly no stranger to playing behind some of the best goaltending in the league, as he spent his time in Florida behind Roberto Luongo, but his numbers were starting to suggest he could use more responsibility.  In 25 games, he was able to put together 12 wins and 24 points, which was good enough for 44th among all goalie in pool scoring.

With the Canadiens, Montoya will not only be behind Price, but he will go up against Mike Condon, who had a very good year in Price's absence and the Habs are also quite high on some more of their prospects that are in the pipe.  On the plus side, it is only a 1-year deal, so he could very well become a trade-able asset at any point in the year and could help another team, while helping the Habs later on.

Unless Montoya does get moved in the 2017 season, I don't think I would be in too much of a hurry to pick him up for the upcoming hockey pool.

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