Habs to sign Kevin Mandolese to PTO

With training camps on the horizon, several teams will be adding players on a tryout basis to their rosters.  Montreal will be one of those as Frank Seravalli reports that the Habs will be signing goaltender Kevin Mandolese to a PTO deal.

The 25-year-old became a Group Six unrestricted free agent this summer and had signed with a Russian agency in the hopes of securing a KHL deal that obviously didn’t materialize.  Now, he’ll try to catch on and land a two-way pact with the Canadiens or a Laval-only contract.

Mandolese spent last season in Colorado’s system, getting into 19 games with the Eagles as their backup, posting a record of 11-6-0 with a 2.87 GAA and a .903 SV%.  He briefly was up with the Avalanche but didn’t see any game action with them.  His only NHL outings came back in 2022-23 with Ottawa where he got into three games with a 3.29 GAA and a .916 SV%.

Over his five AHL seasons, Mandolese has played in 85 games, putting up a 39-34-5 record with a 3.20 GAA, a .898 SV%, and two shutouts.

As for where he might fit with Montreal, Mandolese figures to be merely an insurance option.  Samuel Montembeault and one of Jakub Dobes or Kaapo Kahkonen will be up with the Canadiens and the other one along with Jacob Fowler should comprise the tandem with the Rocket.  Meanwhile, Benjamin Gaudreau and Hunter Jones are set to be the netminders in Trois-Rivieres.  If one of them is injured in camp (or Kahkonen is claimed off waivers), Mandolese could then sign a contract rather than management scrambling to find another fit.