Goaltending has been an issue for the Habs this season and on Wednesday, the team has made a move to try to address it. The team announced that goalie coach Eric Raymond has been let go. Laval goalie coach Marco Marciano will fill the role for the rest of the season.
Raymond first came to Montreal in July 2021, taking over the post from Sean Burke. It was his first NHL position after spending four years with the Rangers’ AHL team. Over his tenure, he had to deal with the departure of Carey Price and a bit of a goalie carousel with only Samuel Montembeault being around for an extended period of time.
During that time, Montembeault went from being a waiver claim perceived as a depth piece to a quality starter and had a career year last season. Meanwhile, Jakub Dobes showed some promise in his first taste of NHL action in 2024-25 and it looked like the goaltending position was in reasonable shape heading into this season.
That hasn’t been the case, however. Montembeault has a career-low .869 SV% while Dobes is at .890 even after last night’s win, well below league average as well. Using MoneyPuck’s Goals Saved Above Expected, they’re -9.2 as a team in that department. For context, Montembeault was at +24.6 himself last season. The end result is 177 goals allowed, the sixth-highest total in the NHL which has largely offset Montreal being one of the top-scoring teams in the league.
With the battle for a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division quite tight, the Canadiens can ill afford to have below-average goaltending down the stretch. There’s no guarantee things will be better under Marciano but his track record should provide reason for optimism that things can get at least a little better.
Marciano has been in Montreal’s organization for quite some time, dating back to 2013 when he was a video coach for the Hamilton Bulldogs. He followed the club to St. John’s and then Laval, taking on the goalie coaching role along the way. He also has served as a QMJHL goalie coach for several organizations so he has a fair amount of experience.
It’s unclear at this time if Marciano will also continue to work with the Rocket or if someone else will cover that role for the remainder of their season.