It is no secret that the Montreal Canadiens have received less-than-stellar netminding this season, a situation that has led some to suggest the team should acquire a goaltender before the NHL trade deadline.
This is a logical approach, as the Habs could improve the team by trading for a goaltender who can perform better than Samuel Montembeault.
Frank Serravalli: Among teams potentially interested in adding a netminder, I would include Ottawa, Montreal, Vegas Golden Knights - NHL Now (3/4).
- NHL Rumor Report (@NHLRumourReport) 5 March 2026
However, the two names being mentioned as potential upgrades for the Canadiens, Jordan Binnington (32) and Sergei Bobrovsky (37), are far from their statistical prime.
In fact, the 29-year-old Montembeault is much younger than the troubled netminders. This doesn't mean the Canadiens can't acquire a goaltender over the age of 29, but if they do, they'll have to make sure the player in question can potentially deliver better results than Montembeault.
According to Pierre LeBrun:
- If the Habs do trade for a goalie, it won't be for a rental. He says Jordan Binnington, who is signed for next season, would make sense.
– The Habs are also monitoring the status of Nazem Kadri and perhaps Vincent Trocheck as well. https://t.co/NZDEPaqqIq
- /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) 4 March 2026
Montreal Canadiens goaltending trade targets
Before we look at the numbers, it should be noted that Binnington and Bobrowski have won Stanley Cups in the past, and there is something to be said for providing valuable experience to the youngest team in the league.
However, the goaltender in question is no longer in Stanley Cup shape, as evidenced by his numbers, which are downright terrible.
To get a better idea, we'll take a look at four different metrics at 5v5: save percentage (SV%), goals saved above average per 60 (GSAA/60), high-danger save percentage (HDSV%), and high-danger goals saved above average per 60 (HDGSAA/60).
We filtered results for players with at least 1000 minutes played at 5v5 this season, giving us a total of 49 goaltenders.
As you can see in the table above, Montbault is near the bottom of the league in all four metrics.
And yet, he's still managed to produce better numbers than both Binnington and Bobrowski. They are ranked last or close to last in most categories, a good reminder that the grass is not always greener.
You could argue that this isn't a fair comparison, as the Montreal Canadiens are a better team than the Florida Panthers and St. Louis Blues, but that would be to ignore the fact that the Canadiens are below both teams in high-danger shot share (46.3%).
In other words, the Canadiens squandered high-danger chances, making life much harder on their netminders. There are a dozen or more awkward rushes every night, not to mention a few instances of confused defensive coverages.
Simply put, the idea of acquiring Jordan Binnington or Sergei Bobrovsky makes little to no sense for the Montreal Canadiens, as they would be unlikely to surpass Montembeault, not to mention Jacob Dobbs.
And then there's the matter of freeing up cap space for netminders with worse numbers than the second-best Habs goalie.
All things considered, making this type of deal would be a mistake in the face of the smart, thorough work Kent Hughes and Co. have done since taking the reins in Montreal.
All Montreal Canadiens stats are 5v5, via Natural Stat Trick, unless otherwise noted.
