The Montreal Canadiens have acquired goaltender Jake Allen from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for 2020 third- and seventh-round picks.
The Canadiens will also receive a 2022 seventh-round pick as part of the deal.
Canadiens acquire Jake Allen and a 7th-round pick in 2022 from the Blues in return for a 3rd- and 7th-round pick in 2020.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 2, 2020
In Allen, the Canadiens land a solid backup and reliable insurance policy behind starter Carey Price, who will benefit from more rest throughout the course of the upcoming season. We saw what a healthy, well-rested Price is capable of in the playoffs — 1.78 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and a pair of shutouts — and by opening up the possibility of a more tandem-like approach to the 2020-21 campaign through heavy stretches, general manager Marc Bergevin is setting his No. 1 netminder up for more success.
Allen, 30, has spent his entire NHL career to date with the Blues, but lost his starting gig midway through the 2018-19 campaign when Jordan Binnington emerged and backstopped the Blues all the way to the Stanley Cup. Relegated to backup in 2019-20, Allen recorded a 2.15 GAA and .927 save percentage with two shutouts through 24 appearances, and played well when called upon this summer (1.89 GAA, .935 save percentage in four playoff starts in Edmonton). Over the course of seven seasons in St. Louis, the Fredericton, N.B., native has averaged 2.50 goals against with a .913 save percentage.
The Blues, who signed Binnington to a two-year extension last summer with a $4.4-million AAV, are facing a cap crunch this off-season and general manager Doug Armstrong has his hands full as he tries to re-sign captain Alex Pietrangelo in a flat-cap reality. Shedding Allen’s contract certainly helps — he has one more season remaining on the four-year pact he signed with St. Louis back in 2016, and his $4.35-million cap hit is now off Armstrong’s books — and making the trade saves him some possible goalie drama once next year’s expansion draft rolls around.
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