Cayden Primeau's departure: a way to deal with Jake Allen?
With the more than particular situation of the goaltenders in Montreal, Jake Allen has seen much more action than expected.
He has played in 23 of the Habs' 30 games so far this season. Despite the heavy workload, Allen has a 0.903% save percentage and a 3.10 goals against average.
His stats are quite impressive considering the quality of the teams he's facing.
Tonight, against the Flyers, it was the young goaltender Cayden Primeau who was sent in front of the net. For François Gagnon, analysis at RDS, this decision would have the goal of eventually trading Jake Allen.
"If I asked you the question, of all the Habs players, who is the easiest to trade right now and who would give you the best value in return for a trade? My answer to you is Jake Allen."
The goalie has certainly shown that he can help out a team that doesn't have a number one goalie. More often than not this year, Allen has faced more than 40 shots and held the fort in front of the CH cage.
Samuel Montembeault, who has only played eight games this season, is not in net for the same reason, according to Gagnon. The Habs want to determine if Primeau is ready to play in the NHL full-time.
"If you want to consider a trade that sends Jake Allen elsewhere, you can't just give the net to Samuel Montembeault. You want to see how well, after a regular training camp, Cayden Primeau, who's doing well in the AHL, is able to translate that to the National Hockey League."
One thing is certain, Primeau is the goalie of the future in Montreal. So there is no downside to seeing him play a few games in the NHL if on top of that, the Tricolore gets an interesting return for Jake Allen.
It will be interesting to see if Jeff Gorton chooses this option in the next few weeks. Do you think Allen's value on the market is high?
