The Florida Panthers took care of another piece of offseason buisness over the weekend, agreeing to terms with Sam Montembeault on a one-year, two-way contract.
Montembeault’s new deal pays the league minimum of $750K at the NHL level and $250K at the AHL level.
The 24-year-old, who was taken 77th overall in 2015 NHL Entry Draft, has appeared in a total of 25 games for the Panthers in the two seasons before 2020-21, posting a 9-8-3 record, 3.20 GAA and .892 save percentage. Bumped down the depth chart by the emergence of Chris Driedger and the signing og Spencer Knight, he went 8-4-1 for the Syracuse Crunch, posting an .898 save percentage and a 2.86 GAA.
Don’t be surprised if the Panthers add another goaltender or two to the mix during the summer. Last season, the Cats had seven (Sergei Bobrovsky, Driedger, Knight, Montembeault, Philippe Desrosiers, Ryan Bednard and unsigned prospect Devon Levi) on the organizational depth chart. As of right now that number has been cut down to five: Bobrovsky, Knight, Christopher Gibson, Montembeault and 2021 fifth-rounder Kirill Gerasimyuk, leaving the team vulnerable to a run of injuries at the position.
The signing leaves just two RFAs, forward Samson Reinhart and defenseman Chase Priskie, on Bill Zito’s to do list.