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Montreal Canadiens: Strong Playoff Performances Could Lead Seattle To Pass On Jake Allen

By Ken MacMillan

Jun 6, 2021; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens Ben Chiarot. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 6, 2021; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens Ben Chiarot. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Montreal Canadiens, like every team in the NHL except for their third round opponent, will soon have to gear up for the Seattle Kraken expansion draft.

As part of their own expansion plan, the Vegas Golden Knights do not have to lose a player to the Kraken this offseason.

Everyone else will have the option of protecting either seven forwards, three defensemen and a goaltender or eight skaters and one goaltender.

The Canadiens will obviously protect Carey Price in goal. On the blue line, they have to protect Jeff Petry and will almost certainly keep Shea Weber as well. Their third defender is a coin toss between Joel Edmundson and Ben Chiarot, but since Edmundson has two extra years on his contract, let’s say he gets the final spot on the blue line.

Up front, things can change depending on which forwards get re-signed. Currently, Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault and Joel Armia are slated to be unrestricted free agents on July 28th, so there is no point in using a protection slot on them. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are exempt from the draft because they haven’t played three pro seasons.

So, up front the Canadiens are certain to protect Brendan Gallagher, Tyler Toffoli, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Josh Anderson. Jonathan Drouin won’t be given away for nothing so he is protected as well. Jake Evans played well as a rookie this season and deserves a spot in next year’s lineup and the final protection slot up front should go to Artturi Lehkonen for his terrific defensive play and penalty killing ability.

Under this scenario it has been widely speculated that the Seattle Kraken would select Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens.

However, strong playoff performances could have the Kraken brass looking elsewhere. They could still select a solid tandem of goaltenders like Braden Holtby and Anton Khudobin or go hard after one of the many UFA netminders this offseason like Chris Driedger, Freddy Andersen, Phillip Grubauer, Pekka Rinne, Petr Mrazek or James Reimer.

Plus, they could grab one of these three guys who are having solid showings in the postseason.

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