Insider: Canadiens Shopping For Goaltender

Sam Montembeault, Montreal Canadiens goalie

The Montreal Canadiens rank 30th in the NHL in goals against average, at 3.54 allowed per game. Similarly, they're 30th in save percentage, at .877. If the team hopes to maintain its push to the top of the Atlantic Division, it will certainly need to address the goaltending.

Sam Montembeault has been supremely disappointing this season, with a 5-6-1 mark, an .861 Sv% and a 3.61 goals against average. The Habs came into the season feeling like their goaltending was in good hands, as the 29-year-old was coming off an excellent season in which he finished 8th in the balloting for the Vezina. He held a .900+ career Sv%.

But Montembeault hasn't been the same this season. And Jakub Dobes, who was sensational in October, winning all nine of his starts with a .927 Sv% and 2.08 GAA, fell off a cliff in November with an .849 Sv% and a 4.42 GAA.

Now, insider David Pagnotta tells us, via Inside Sports (h/t heavy.com), that Montreal is now checking to see what's out there on the goaltending market.

We’ve started to hear that (the Habs) are at least gauging the market to see what options may be available to them if they do decide to do something in net.

Unlike their Canadian brethren out West, the Edmonton Oilers, who are also looking for an upgrade in net, the Habs have some cap space and the prospects to make something happen. If both teams go looking for the same goalie, expect the Canadiens to win the day.

Habs have the cap space to make a goaltending move, if they so desired

“I don’t expect them to do something significant yet, unless something totally falls into their lap,” said Pagnotta. "But different from the Oilers, they’ve got a lot more cap flexibility to perhaps do something more bold... Montreal is the only other team right now that seems to be scouring things out and see what might be available to them if they want to make a big move."

The Habs currently have about $5.5 million in cap space, compared to the Oilers' $159,000 (i.e. next to nothing).

Pagnotta went on to suggest that Montreal's recent talks with the St. Louis Blues could lead them to ask about Jordan Binnington (a name that's also been linked to the Oilers).

Again, nothing imminent yet, and Dobes might have righted the ship—at least for one game—as he stopped 29 of 31 shots against the Winnipeg Jets Wednesday night in a 3-2 shootout win for the Canadiens.