The Montreal Canadiens have signed backup goalie Al Montoya to a two-year extension, the team announced Monday.
The deal is worth an average of $1.0625 million per season, a source told ESPN.com.
By extending Montoya, who would have been an unrestricted free agent July 1, the Canadiens now have a goalie they can expose in the June expansion draft.
Neither of Montreal's minor league goalie prospects, Charlie Lindgren and Zach Fucale, are eligible per expansion draft rules. So the Canadiens needed to either find a goalie who met the requirements or extend Montoya. Canadiens star goalie Carey Price, who has a no-movement clause, is not eligible for the expansion draft, either.
All NHL teams must expose at least four players that meet requirements for the Las Vegas expansion franchise: one goalie, one defenseman and two forwards.
The 6-foot-2, 209-pound Montoya has a 4-4-2 record with one shutout, a 2.74 goals-against average and .909 save percentage this season.
Montoya, a 31-year-old native of Chicago, has a 59-44-20 record in 147 regular-season games with Arizona the New York Islanders, Winnipeg and Florida.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.