The Montreal Canadiens have been looking for a solution to their three goaltender system for a few months now, but there have been no takers on the trade market.
Sam Montembeault inked a three year contract extension earlier this season which made it unlikely he would be going anywhere in the foreseeable future. He has also provided solid goaltending for the team which helps his case to stay with the team closest to his hometown.
That left the Canadiens with two options. They would either need to move veteran Jake Allen or youngster Cayden Primeau. The team was worried about losing Primeau on waivers so although he does not have the same track record as Allen, he is not going to be sent down to the Laval Rocket as someone else would scoop him up on waivers.
Along with his unproven track record would come a low trade value. He was consistently good with the Rocket for the past few seasons, but hasn't put up great numbers at the NHL level when given a chance. Still, he is 23 years old and has shown enough promise that he could possibly develop into a relaible NHL goaltender if given the opportunity.
Allen, on the other hand, is a 33 year old veteran who had great success with the St. Louis Blues earlier in his career, but hasn't put up the same numbers with the Canadiens. Some of that has to do with the fact he played behind a Stanley Cup caliber team in St. Louis and an NHL Draft Lottery contending team in Montreal.
There is reason to believe the veteran could still provide a reliable second option on a great time and even split time with another netminder to give a good team respectable goaltending on a nighly basis.
This has other teams thinking Jake Allen trade talk is going to heat up as soon as the NHL roster freeze is lifted. Teams are not allowed to make trades or send players down until December 28th. When that happens, it sounds like Allen could be a hot commodity.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN was speaking on the segment Insider Trading last night and brought up Allen's name as a trade candidate.
LeBrun said he heard a couple of teams around the league are expected to circle back to the Canadiens to ask about Allen in the coming weeks. He said the Carolina Hurricanes have talked to the Canadiens recently about Allen and the New Jersey Devils have held internal talks about whether they believe Allen would be a solution to their goaltending woes.
Allen has one more year on his contract after this season with a cap hit of $3.85 million. He has posted a 3.43 GAA with a .904 SV% in 12 games so far this season. We shouldn't expect a huge return, but turning the crease over to the much younger duo of Montembeault and Primeau makes a lot of sense for the rebuilding Canadiens.