Montreal Canadiens: Jake Allen Extension Would Give Cayden Primeau Perfect Mentor

The Montreal Canadiens took care of their final pieces of offseason business when they signed Kirby Dach and Cayden Primeau to contracts earlier this week.

Dach, the 21 year old centre acquired at the NHL Draft, inked a four-year contract with a cap hit of $3.3625 million per season. There is a bit of risk involved for the team, since Dach has provided very little offence in his first three NHL seasons.

However, there is more reason to believe the contract will be a steal by the end of it as Dach has the size, skill and smarts to become a key contributor in the next couple of seasons.

The Primeau extension was equally interesting. The 23 year old netminder has shown a lot of potential at times since being drafted by the Canadiens in 2017. He hasn’t put together a truly fantastic season at the AHL yet, but has had enough runs of great play that he could still turn into an NHL starter yet.

Primeau was rewarded with a three year contract that pays him $890,000 per season. It is a one-way contract, meaning he will earn that income whether he plays in the NHL, or in the likely event that he is sent down to the minors to play for the Laval Rocket this season.

When he becomes eligible for waivers in 2023-24, Primeau will likely be given a longer look at the NHL level, especially if he can build on his 2022 postseason success with the Rocket in the upcoming season.

With a three-year extension in hand, it surely looks like Primeau is in the plans for the Canadiens to be in the NHL in 2023-24 and 2024-25. It also sounds like they are trying to ink the perfect mentor for him.

Jake Allen arrived in Montreal two years ago and came just as advertised: an extremely well liked teammate who was a perfect fit as the team’s backup goaltender to an aging Carey Price. Allen played well when called upon and kept the team in the playoff chase when Price was injured in the 2020-21 season. He then quietly sat back and allowed Price to take the starting role back as soon as he was healthy enough to do so.

The  32 year old goalie played admirably behind a porous defensive team last season. The numbers weren’t phenomenal, a 3.30 GAA and a .905 SV%, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Being peppered with Grade A chances on a nightly basis makes it difficult to keep the GAA at a respectable level.

It appears the organization is happy with what they have seen from the veteran and are in talks with him about a contract extension.

Allen is heading into the final year of his current contract with a cap hit of $2.875 million. A contract extension would ensure the veteran is around when Primeau becomes a full-time NHL goaltender and that would be terrific for both Primeau and the Canadiens.

Allen has been through just about everything in his career. He was a second round pick in 2008 and became one of the top goaltending prospects in hockey shortly after. He won CHL goaltender of the year, and was the starting goalie for Team Canada at the World Juniors in 2010 when they won a silver medal.

Primeau won college hockey’s top goaltender award in 2019, and helped USA win a silver medal at the World Juniors. Like Allen, he has had three okay, but not terrific, seasons to begin his pro career.

In his fourth pro season, Allen was terrific at the AHL level, posting a 2.03 GAA and a .928 SV% before taking over as the St. Louis Blues starter. Now, he is poised to guide Primeau along and follow in his footsteps to take that next leap in his pro career.

The Canadiens goaltending tandem will likely be Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault for the upcoming season. A Primeau-Allen duo for the next two years would put the young goaltender in a strong position to succeed as he begins his full time NHL career.

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