Montreal hasn’t had an easy calendar coming back from the Christmas break. In the span of two weeks, they played six times, and in five of those six contests, they faced playoff teams. The sole exception is a match-up with divisional rivals and perennial rebuilders Buffalo Sabres. Throughout these six games, Cayden Primeau got a single start when Montreal visited the Hurricanes, Jake Allen was on duty twice in Florida to take on the Panthers and when the Sabres came to visit, while Samuel Monteambeault got the lion’s share of the work with three starts against the Lightning, the Stars, and the Rangers.
So far this season, Montembeault has had 18 starts, Allen 14, and Primeau only eight. At 24, Primeau’s development is far from over, and while the Canadiens cannot send him down to Laval as they fear he would be claimed on waivers, this threesome in net has got to end at some point. If the Canadiens are not willing to risk losing Primeau, and considering they’ve signed Samuel Montembault to a three-year contract extension with a $3.150 M AAV, it seems obvious that Jake Allen is the odd man out.
Much has been written since the beginning of the season about the Canadiens’ goaltending situation and the fact that it was far from ideal, but there was still room for speculation when Montembeault’s contractual status was in limbo. Now, with a new deal in his pocket and being called upon for the toughest match-ups, it’s clear that Samuel Montembeault is the Canadiens’ number one, even though head coach Martin St-Louis is doing his very best not to say so.
Veteran Jake Allen is, therefore, on the market, and considering how many injuries there have been to goaltenders everywhere around the league, it appears fairly obvious that Kent Hughes has had a team inquiring about the veteran netminders but that no one has been willing to meet his asking price. Hughes has never been one to make trades in a hurry, when he initially got the Canadiens’ general manager job, numerous teams were calling about Arturri Lehkonen and he held firm until then Colorado GM Joe Sakic agreed to send a right-shooting puck moving defenseman to Montreal to acquire the highly sought after Finn. Now, Hughes might have the same attitude about Allen, but the backup isn’t exactly the belle of the ball.
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Allen has always been better suited to the backup role than to the starting job, as he explained himself when he first signed an extension with the Canadiens after being traded from St-Louis. Back then, the plan was for Allen to back up franchise player Carey Price, but fate had other plans. With Price’s health being a question mark, the Canadiens claimed Samuel Montembeault off waivers from the Panthers and he was soon sharing the workload with Allen. With Allen’s contract coming to an end in 2022-2023, Kent Hughes signed him to a two-year contract extension worth $3.85 million per year. That’s right, Allen makes more than Montembeault’s new contract will pay him. And there lies the issue: Allen’s cap hit is a bit on the pricey side for a back-up.
Furthermore, the Canadiens are already using two out of their three salary retention spots as things stand, and they’d probably like to keep that last spot for the trade deadline when they’ll be trying to move hotter commodities if the injury ninja gives them some breathing room. For a while, trading Monahan at the deadline seemed like a no-brainer, but with the Habs’ decimated center line, it may not be as easy as that. Back to Allen, though, there is a sense of urgency to trade him now as Primeau and Montembeault are not getting the starts they need (for the former) and deserve (for the latter).
On Saturday, the LA Kings announced that Phoenix Copley was done for the season after undergoing successful ACL surgery, and those same Kings have now lost five games in a row and are falling quickly in the standings, finding themselves in 6th place in the West. Perhaps now would be a good time for GM Kent Hughes to give a call to Los Angeles’ general manager Rob Blake and his special advisor Marc Bergevin. Considering Allen’s presence is, in a way, detrimental to his other two goaltenders, Hughes might also want to revise his asking price. The Canadiens currently have three days off in a row, and the timing seems ideal to make some moves; over to you, Kent!