Florida Panthers: Should Montembeault Start as the Backup Next Season?

After exploding onto the scene last season, 22-year-old goaltender Sam Montembeault is hoping to permanently pencil in his spot on the Florida Panthers roster.

The former third-round pick went 4-3-2 in eleven games last season, starting ten of them, and being pulled only once. He finished with a 3.05 goals against average and a save percentage of .894 with zero shutouts in 592 total minutes.

After rattling off a tremendous start in net – going 4-0-1 through his first five starts – he seemed to give the Panthers some hopes going forward between the pipes.

Both James Reimer and Roberto Luongo never won four straight games this season, and Montembeault was rested just twice within these first 5 starts.

Monty was desperately needed in these games, forcing overtime against Carolina, and boosting the Panthers to narrow one-goal wins versus San Jose and Los Angeles away from home.

After that promising start, his numbers continued to get better, but he failed to get the results he wanted.

He played just six more games following that, finishing 0-3-1, with no decisions against Toronto (gave up 2 goals on 4 shots, Panthers lost 7-5) and Montreal (in relief of Reimer, Panthers lost 6-1).

It’s hard not to look at the way Montembeault played and say that he didn’t deserve more. He saved over 30 shots in three out of the four appearances against playoff caliber teams in the Stars, Bruins, and Islanders.

There’s still a lot of mystery over what happens for the Panthers between the pipes at the start of next season. With the Cats recording just three shutouts last season and boasting the fourth-worst goals against average, it’s clear that improvements need to be made.

The Panthers are targeting both of the top goaltending free agents this summer in Sergei Bobrovsky and Semyon Varlamov to come in as the new starter.

James Reimer and Roberto Luongo are still on the books until 2021 and 2022 respectively, and Montembeault is in need of an extension, which he will receive.

So, where does that leave Monty? It’s a weird spot for the goalie to be in, as he was arguably the best goalie on the roster when he played last season and is certainly the youngest.

Yet, he didn’t quite have the impact of a Jordan Binnington or a Carter Hart to fully take the reigns as the No. 1 keeper on the Cats’ depth chart.

Say the Panthers get Bobrovsky, this leaves four NHL caliber goalies on one roster. Luongo surely will not be moved on from, Reimer’s contract would be hard to get out of if the Panthers were to buy him out, especially if the team looks to bring in Artemi Panarin.

To really consider what’s best for Montembeault, let’s look at Sergei Bobrovsky and his schedule in Columbus, as well as his time-table in Florida.

If he signs, Bobrovsky will be 31 when he makes his Panthers’ debut in October. Some goalies, such as Marc-Andre Fleury, age like fine wine and get better with age, while others may fall apart due to age leading to increased chances of injury.

Bobrovsky has averaged starting 63 games in the last three seasons, even with the Blue Jackets having a capable young goaltender in Joonas Korpisalo sitting right behind Bobrovsky in their rotation. Korpisalo’s numbers last season were a steady 10-7-3 with a 2.95 GAA and an .895 save percentage.

As a 24-year-old last season, these kinds of numbers are similar to what Montembeault can contribute if he’s the backup next season.

However, this implies he would only play roughly 21 games if he was the permanent backup, which would barely be as much as he played this past season.

This presents a serious problem for Dale Tallon because this could sting Monty’s development. If Montembeault consistently plays roughly 46 games over the next two seasons as a backup, it will mean he would be 24 without too much NHL experience.

If I was Tallon, even though he may be better than expected, it may be smarter to play Montembeault in the AHL again next season.

For Springfield, Monty can continue his development at a more accelerated pace than if he was to remain on the Panthers bench as the backup netminder.

With that, Monty may rather stay in the AHL next season. This would give him 50+ games to improve and be ready to replace Bobrovsky once he moves on. Roberto Luongo may also benefit from this, as with less time, he may be much fresher and better than these last couple of seasons.