With three goalies at the NHL level, the Montreal Canadiens are looking for a way to make their crease a little less crowded.
A trade would do it. And now might be the time.
After it was announced on Monday that Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen would be out indefinitely due to a blood clotting issue, TSN insider Pierre LeBrun confirmed that the Habs could provide some relief to their situation.
“Carolina keeping an eye on the three goalie situations in Detroit, Montreal, among other places to see maybe that there’s a trade fit,” LeBrun said during an episode of Insider Trading on Tuesday.
In the meantime, though, LeBrun also confirmed that former Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak, who joined the Hurricanes on a professional tryout this week, has the potential to earn a contract of his own.
“They’ve been talking to Halak for a couple of weeks and that’s because they want to get deeper in goal throughout the organization,” LeBrun explained. “They’ve recalled Pyotr Kochetkov and he’s going to share the crease with Antti Raanta, but it’s not a guarantee they actually sign Halak to an NHL contract. That remains to be seen.”
Montreal’s 23-man roster currently includes netminders Sam Montembeault, Jake Allen, and Cayden Primeau — who has only played one game all year. But the failure to make a deal with Carolina would not necessarily limit their ability to make a goalie trade.
Other NHL teams looking for some help between the pipes include the Tampa Bay Lightning — who are currently without Andrei Vasilevskiy — the Columbus Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers, and San Jose Sharks.
It’s probably fair to include the Edmonton Oilers, who placed former starter Jack Campbell on waivers this week, on that list as well.
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