The Montreal Canadiens have acquired another goaltender, nabbing Jake Allen from the St. Louis Blues. Allen comes to Montreal along with a 2022 seventh-round pick, while the Blues will receive a 2020 third-round selection (WSH) and a 2020 seventh-round pick (CHI). The Blues will not retain any of Allen’s $4.35MM cap hit for next season.
For the Blues, a deal like this immediately brings up speculation that the team is trying to clear cap space in order to re-sign Alex Pietrangelo. St. Louis carried nearly $9MM in cap hits from goaltenders this season after signing Jordan Binnington, a number that wasn’t tenable if they wanted to bring their superstar captain back. Pietrangelo is a pending UFA, but the team had already handed much of his $6.5MM salary off in extensions to Justin Faulk and Brayden Schenn.
Alternatively, the Canadiens will now have close to $15MM in cap hits from their goaltending tandem given Carey Price’s $10.5MM price tag. That is an incredibly high amount, though getting an experienced backup for Price seemed like a top priority this offseason. The Canadiens have relied so heavily on the star netminder for the last few years that some believe his play was being hindered by overuse—Price led all goaltenders with 58 appearances in the shortened 2019-20 season. A fully rested Price showed in the playoffs exactly why he is still considered one of the best in the game; in ten appearances he recorded a .936 save percentage and helped carry Montreal through the qualification round.
Allen himself experienced a resurgence in 2019-20 after two down years in St. Louis. Playing second fiddle to Binnington, he recorded a .927 save percentage in 24 appearances, the best performance of his career. By the time the playoffs rolled around, he ended up taking over in net and posted a .935 in five appearances.
The Canadiens also have cap space to spare as they rely more and more on their young talent to carry the roster. Max Domi and Victor Mete are the only pending restricted free agents that are set to get substantial raises and at least the former has had some trade speculation surrounding him lately anyway. There will be some bigger deals to be made with names like Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault to start the 2021-22 season, but by then Allen’s current cap hit will be off the books.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the deal is that one of the goaltenders expected to be on the market is now gone, meaning teams that are scrambling for a starter this summer will have one fewer to choose from. Allen could have been a replacement in places like Dallas or Edmonton who could see one half of their tandem leave in free agency. The Blues also add a third-round pick as they shed salary, a nice little prize even though it was unlikely Allen could stay.
The Blues will likely hand the crease back to Binnington for next season with Ville Husso a candidate to serve as backup, but it doesn’t come without risk. The 27-year old Binnington could not recapture the magic that helped lead St. Louis to a Stanley Cup in 2019 and recorded just a .912 save percentage in the regular season. His playoff performance was brutal, going 0-5 with an .851 before Allen took over. If he can’t find his game, the Blues may be in trouble next season. With that in mind, St. Louis could be a contender to bring in a more experienced backup this offseason, but they would have to come considerably cheaper than Allen’s current cap hit.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Petro might get to stay, after all! And, Burkie chimes in with his take on the Faulk trade, too! Happy Days!
Yay
What a great trade for the Blues!
Overpaid for the role he’ll be filling but he’s definitely the best backup the Habs have had in 10 years. Provided he plays well when called upon, it should allow Julien to give Price regular rest so he’s fresh come stretch time.
Good get for the Habs. Allen could be due for a bounce back.
Bounce back? Allen has a great season!
Does Armstrong have pictures of Bergevin…? Is a third round pick worth spending almost $15 million on goaltending?
Maybe the Habs are flipping him, but, otherwise, I’m not seeing their end of this deal.
There end of the deal is that they haven’t had a reliable backup since Halak. The past 3 seasons Price has been driven into the ground by Julien because they haven’t had even a below average backup to rely on. Bergevin essentially traded 22 games of Ilya Kovalchuk for what should be one of the better backups in the NHL. There is no long term harm and in the short term, they still have ~$14 million in cap space plus multiple trade assets to improve the team.
I get the general strategy, but why not get a still solid but cheaper backup like Greiss as a FA, keep the draft pick and save a few million so that you could offer more to Hall or Hoffman or Dadonov?
Any of the UFA goalies are still going to cost around $3-4 million while likely being forced to commit more than 1 year to get them. Even while paying Allen his $4.3 million, they can still outbid most teams for any of those 3 if they so choose and still have money left over to re-sign Domi and the other RFA.
Is Greiss accepting a 1 year deal? Why not just go get the guy you want who fits your cap structure?
Always a guiding light Doc, carry on!
I assume Husso or whoever is in the Blues farm becomes the backup.
It will definitely be Husso.
He was a highly-touted prospect once. Give the kid a shot.
I agree.
Hi Gavin,
“Perhaps the most interesting part of the deal is that one of the goaltenders expected to be on the market is now gone, meaning teams that are scrambling for a “stater” this summer will have one fewer to choose from”.
Is it “starter” not “stater”?
Ah spelling police. Hardo alert!
Now, the monkey-in-the-wrench is emerging that could be smoke without the fire. They are saying the Blues and The Captain aren’t very close in negotiations(?). He needs to stay, Faulk (any maybe others) need to go…
Faulk has a no trade clause (but not a no-move clause, so it’s possible he could end up in Seattle).
He’d be a year older, but with the flat cap, Petro might be best served by taking a one-year deal with the Blues and hitting the market again in a more normal off-season.
@baseballpun – Agreed. The puck is now in Petro’s end, but Doug is driving the Zamboni on this one…
As Sean McIndoe says, goaltending is voodoo. Allen had a very solid year and was one of only a handful of Blues to show up in Edmonton, and Binnington was mediocre all year, but none of that means anything for next year. I’d definitely rather have Pietrangelo back than Allen, but I hope he does well in Montreal.
… Why did the Blues do this? Did they not see how Binnington did in the playoffs?
They probably aren’t going to put too much stock in his play after having months off and having to come back.
^This is accurate. A few bad games (especially in a specialty position) doesn’t distract from the fact Binnington carried them to the cup the year before
Why are the Habs giving Domi a raise when he has been a 4th liner?
Smart trade for mtl, they got him for a swap of picks and the pick they got for Ilya Kovalchuk. If it doesn’t work out, let Allen walk as a free agent next year and Primeau should be ready for the backup job
Montreal got fleeced. St Louis needed cap relief and basically gave up nothing to dump Allen in Montreal. The rest of the GMs in the league have to be shaking their heads at this deal. It’s a new NHL where GMs expect a high draft in return for giving you cap relief. I guess no one told Bergevin. Awful GM, has to be on his way out soon.
Well almost none of what you said is rooted in reality.
You have no clue as to what you are talking about.
This was a great trade for Montreal from every angle.
I’ve heard the arguments, I still don’t like this deal for the Habs. There will be good enough backups who can be had for $1 million or so. Until this past season, Allen was no better than any of those guys. Was it a fluke?
Now, Price will be better rested when his team loses 2-1. Victory?
They should have have piled up cash for Taylor Hall or tried to get 2 or 3 guys in the Evgeni Dadonov range.
The Blues got exactly what they needed.
The biggest loser in this deal, though, is Jake Allen. Presumably, the Blues shopped him around and no one wanted him as a starter (which seems odd, actually) but with uncertainty around Binnington, he would have been better off playing in St. Louis for his last year before UFA status. No such opportunity exists in Montreal.
Not sure there is uncertainty with Binnington. He did have a bad playoff, but also was the main reason the last place Blues (in January 2020) went on to win the cup. Allen was a project for the Blues for YEARS and never could be a starter, and now they need the $$ to sign their #1 D-man.