Lambert feels Montour would be a good fit for Canada at the Olympics, considering all he does for Seattle.
“He moves the puck well, he joins the rush well, he can move, he can skate, which is going to be critical in that environment, in that tournament,” he said. “He went to the orientation camp in the summer and it was well-deserved and I think that he should be in the mix for consideration.”
Montour has represented Canada twice at the World Championship, winning silver in 2019.
His experience at the Worlds this past spring was cut short when Canada was upset 2-1 by Denmark in the quarterfinal.
Along with Crosby and MacKinnon, the Canadian team included forwards Travis Konecny of the Philadelphia Flyers, Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders, Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks, and Calgary Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, who are all in consideration to play at the Olympics.
Weegar and Montour were teammates in Florida in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
“He’s an awesome guy, he’s a riot to be around, a great player and awesome skater,” Weegar said. “He does everything well. He’s got it all and is a great guy. He was a great teammate in Florida and then I got to be at Worlds with him and he lit it up over at Worlds. He was on the first-unit power play and played a lot of minutes over there.”
Montour had nine points (two goals, seven assists) in eight games at the World Championship, finishing fourth in scoring for Canada behind MacKinnon (13 points; seven goals, six assists), Konecny (13 points; three goals, 10 assists) and Crosby (12 points; four goals, eight assists).
“I liked his game, he’s got a lot of energy,” said Calgary coach Ryan Huska, who was an assistant to coach Dean Evason with Canada. “He reminds me a lot of MacKenzie Weegar on our team, around the dressing room where he’s got a bubbly personality. He’s got a nice skill set. I do really appreciate the competitive side that he plays the game with as well.”
Montour said he feels he could fit in wherever needed for Canada if given the opportunity.
“You can see kind of what that team has, with Makar playing power play, they have bunch of power-play guys, so does a guy like me need to play on the power play? No,” Montour said. “But I can play on the penalty kill, play strictly 5-on-5, and for me I think I would bring the strength of all of those if they need it. If guys get injured, I can step up and play those roles.”
Playing for Canada at the Olympics would be a dream come true for Montour, and an Olympic medal would be a nice addition to his Stanley Cup ring.
“You dream of winning the Stanley Cup, but to have an opportunity and just having your name in that (Olympic) mix, is a huge honor that myself and my family are happy about,” Montour said. “But we’re also happy that we’re playing well here and we’re in the mix here, and the better we are here, will obviously help myself and the rest of the group with that as well.”
— NHL.com Independent Correspondent Laurence Heinen contributed to this report
