Oilers acquire Al Montoya from Montreal

The Oilers announced they’ve acquired goaltender Al Montoya for a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2018 in a tweet tonight.

Montoya is 32-years old with four games played and a .863 save percentage this season, though he hasn’t played a game since November 4th due to a concussion. He had a .912 save percentage in 19 games last year. Montoya has a $1.1 million cap hit and is signed through next season.

The draft pick is a fifth-round pick unless Montoya plays seven games or more for Edmonton, according to Pierre LeBrun.

Goaltending has not been strong for the Oilers this season. Edmonton’s 28th in the league in save percentage. Cam Talbot hasn’t been the same as previous years, going from a .919 save percentage last season to a .903. Laurent Brossoit has had mixed results. He’s 3-7-1, saving .896 of the shots faced. Montoya’s arrival might mean the end of Brossoit’s time in Edmonton.

The Canadiens claimed Antti Niemi off waivers in November, and have Charlie Lindgren in the minors. Montoya was getting ready to come off the injured reserve, so they had a logjam in net.

The Oilers play back-to-back games against Dallas and Chicago this weekend and it would be reasonable to expect that Montoya will see some action soon.