Montreal Canadiens Extend Goaltender Jake Allen

With over a week to go before the start of the regular season, the Montreal Canadiens announced a contract extension for goaltender Jake Allen. It is a two-year deal worth $7.7 million. The contract carries a salary cap hit of $3.85 million with a limited no-trade clause.

The Canadiens have agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension (2023-24 to 2024-25) with goaltender Jake Allen. #GoHabsGo https://t.co/P21LezsN2e

• Ep 50: Tampa Bay Lightning, Calgary, Playoff Races, Deadline Final Thoughts

  by Full Press Coverage on March 11, 2023 at 12:40 pm

  Jim and Chris discuss the Lightning's struggles, the Calgary Flames, and […]

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 1, 2022

Here is the breakdown of Allen’s new contract which begins next year:

Jake Allen extension:

$4.4M in Year 1 and $3.3M in Year 2. $500K SB in Year 1 and $1M SB in Year 2. Limited no trade in both years

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 1, 2022

Jake Allen Staying in Montreal

The Montreal Canadiens were in need of goaltending. Jake Allen has not been a starter in the NHL in a long time. However, the Canadiens need a goalie that can backstop them until Cayden Primeau is ready. Or the team trades for a goaltender to replace Carey Price. Now, it is hard to replace a legend like Price, who will be on LTIR for this season and may not play again as he deals with a knee injury. However, at least for the next two seasons, general manager Kent Hughes has got his goaltending figured out.

The Canadiens and Allen had been working on an extension for weeks now. Though there was talk earlier in the off-season about trading Allen since the Canadiens were in a rebuild. However, with the news of Price not playing for the year, the Canadiens knew they needed an NHL goalie to start this season. Now that does not mean they do not trade him later on, but it gives the Canadiens stability between the pipes.

Around Full Press Hockey

NHL: Preseason Takeaways: New-Look Jets Have Much to Prove

NHL Rumors: NHL Rumors: Ottawa Senators, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils

NFL: Best Bets For 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie Of The Year

Full Press Bets:  Early 2022 NFL MVP Odds: Bills’ Josh Allen Favored

PODCAST: Full Press Hockey Weekly Ep 38: NHL Season Preview: Golden Knights, Maple Leafs, Johnny Gaudreau

Early in the off-season, the Canadiens signed Samuel Montembeault to a two-year contract extension that carried a $1 million AAV. Montembeault assumed the starter’s role last season for the Canadiens at times as Allen dealt with some injuries. The team also signed Primeau to a three-year deal that carried a $980,000 cap hit after playing in 12 games last season. Primeau is the future of the organization. So there is a two-year window for his development.

Coming into this season, Allen was going to be an unrestricted free agent. He was in the final year of a two-year deal that had a salary cap hit of $2.875 million. Allen’s new contract is a million-dollar bump in pay. The current deal Allen signed happened after he was traded to the Canadiens from the St. Louis Blues to give the Canadiens a solid backup goalie to Price. However, Allen has seen more of the starting duties with all the injuries.

Allen’s numbers were not the greatest last season. But the Canadiens were not good either, especially defensively. Allen had a record of 9-20-4 with a .905 save percentage and two shutouts in 35 games last year. For his career, Allen has played in 353 career NHL games with the Blues and Canadiens with a record of 168-126-35 with a 2.60 GAA and .911 save percentage.