NHL Rumours: Monembeault Done with Habs, Bedard Extension & Senators All-In on Ullmark

In today’s NHL rumour rundown, we start off with the Montreal Canadiens, who are expected to trade Sam Montembeault this offseason after the emergence of Jakub Dobes. Next, we look at the Chicago Blackhawks and Connor Bedard, who continue to work on what could be one of the biggest contracts in the league.

Finally, the Ottawa Senators hired Maciej Szwoch to come in as the coordinator of goaltending scouting and development, indicating that the team is all-in on their starting goaltender, Linus Ullmark.

Canadiens Expected to Trade Montembeault

Heading into the 2025-26 season, making the playoffs was the goal for the Canadiens. They did much more than that, making the Eastern Conference Final and falling to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Their anticipated starting goaltender for the season was Montembeault. Through his first 13 starts of the season, he only won five games and had a .861 save percentage at the end of November. At that point, Dobes started to take over, but things still weren’t stable in the crease.

Through the final 15 games of the season, Dobes was dominant and continued that run into the playoffs, where he saved their season multiple times.

Montembeault lost his place on the team, especially considering prospect Jacob Fowler’s play, too. From the end of January to the end of the playoff run, Montembeault played just three games.

Luckily for the Canadiens, finding a new home shouldn’t be too challenging. Despite a bad season, Montembeault still has some solid numbers across the last three-year span.

The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun joined Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now, and reported that Montembeault is not going to play another game for the Canadiens, and that they will have to move him.

With one year remaining on his deal and a $3.15 million cap hit, he shouldn’t be too difficult to move. Teams looking for a quality backup or tandem goaltender could look to the Canadiens and buy low on Montembeault.

Connor Bedard Extension Likely a Massive One

There are quite a few restricted free agents who are expected to cash in this offseason, but there is a slim chance any of them sign a bigger ticket than Bedard does.

On an episode of First Up, LeBrun stated that both the Blackhawks and Bedard are working hard toward getting a deal done and that it could be finalized in the month of June.

On a recent episode of 32 Thoughts (from May 22, 2026), Elliotte Friedman stated that with Bedard, Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Adam Fantilli, and of course, Macklin Celebrini looking to sign new contracts this offseason, there may be a waiting game to see who signs first.

Typically, superstar contracts coming out of entry-level deals are long-term and have carried salaries in the $8 million range. The expectation is that Bedard and some of the others listed get much more than that.

With the rising cap situation, seeing an extension north of $12.5 million would make sense. Bedard had an outstanding 44 points through 31 games before an injury in December, and finished the season with 75 points in 69 games.

Right now, Kirill Kaprizov leads the way in terms of salaries with a $17 million cap hit. Odds are, Bedard is going to land somewhere between $12 million and that mark if it is a long-term deal.

Senators Hire Szwoch, Show Full Support of Ullmark

The Senators have had a tough time with goaltending since the departure of Craig Anderson. Bringing in Ullmark was supposed to be the end of the carousel they dealt with, and for parts of the 2025-26 season, there were legitimate concerns about his play.

The deficits in his play were explained when Ullmark opened up about his mental health following a leave of absence from the team, and as the season was winding down, Ullmark was playing some of his best hockey. That extended into the playoffs, where he posted a .932 save percentage, despite being swept in the first round.

Ullmark spoke about Szwoch with high regard and credited him with being a big part of regaining his motivation and love for the game of hockey.

Szwoch was an old goaltending coach and friend of Ullmark’s. During the season, head coach Travis Green stated that Szwoch was “Just a mentor and friend in town to help him out. Help him through some hard times.”

After spending the back half of the season with the club, the Senators officially hiring Szwoch is a big statement from them, saying that they believe in Ullmark and are willing to do what they need to for him to find success.

The hiring isn’t necessarily just about Ullmark, though. While having him around is great for the Swedish goalie, adding him to a role to help scout and develop other goaltenders will be a huge asset for the team.