A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens Players Seeking Career Milestones This Season

By Ken MacMillan

Nov 22, 2022; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher (11) shoots the puck against the Buffalo Sabres during the first period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 22, 2022; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher (11) shoots the puck against the Buffalo Sabres during the first period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 30, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens goalie Jake Allen. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 30, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens goalie Jake Allen. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports /

Jake Allen

Jake Allen heads into next season starting off a two-year contract extension. He is almost certain to reach a couple of notable milestones, but can he hit them both in the 2023-24 season?

Allen will have to have his role defined at some point in the upcoming season as well. Right now, the team has Allen, Sam Montembeault and Casey DeSmith under contract for the 2023-24 season. They aren’t likely to keep all three, and it seems likely that Montembeault will be the starter while Allen serves as his backup and DeSmith is shipped out elsewhere.

Even in that situation, Allen is going to get 30-35 starts, and could get even more if Montembeault struggles or gets injured. This would be a similar role that he played the past two seasons, and he has really been a backup since arriving in Montreal three years ago.

Still, Allen is 33 years old and made his NHL debut in 2012, now over 11 years ago so he is approaching some impressive milestones. One he is sure to reach is 400 games played. He already has 395 and should reach the 400 mark around the end of October. He would be the 124th goaltender to ever reach that milestone.

He could also reach 200 wins this season. It would take an impressive season, as he sits at 183 now and would need to win 17 games in the upcoming season to get there. He won 15 last season and nine the year before, but the team should be a little better in 2023-24, right?

If Allen gets to 200 wins, he isn’t going to the Hall of Fame or marching to the top of the wins list, but it would put him in a tie for 96th most wins in NHL history, which is quite an accomplishment all things considered.

As a tremendous leader and great teammate it would be great to see Allen reach a career milestone like 200 wins and he is just 17 away.

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