The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have signed goaltender Al Montoya to a one year contract. The deal is reportedly worth $950,000.
Montoya spent the last two seasons with the Florida Panthers backing up Roberto Luongo. He played 25 games last season with a 12-7-2 record, a 2.18 GAA and a .919 save percentage. The 31 year old Montoya will again serve as a back-up, but this time for all-world goaltender Carey Price. Given how things went last season when Price went down with an injury, it’s not surprising to see the Habs bring a more experienced back up/insurance policy.
One has to wonder what this means for Mike Condon, who filled in admirably last season but was clearly miscast playing that many games. The Canadiens now have Condon, Charlie Lindgren, and Zach Fucale under contract and bound for the AHL, so it would appear that something will have to give in order to make room. Condon would have to clear waivers to go to the minor leagues next season.
Montoya’s Stats:
