Canadiens and Blues pull goalie trade on Wednesday!

The Montreal Canadiens made it clear at the end of the postseason that they needed to shop to get a strong veteran backup for their star goalie Carey Price. 

On Wednesday, they managed to do so, pulling a great move by acquiring Jake Allen in return of two draft picks in the 2020 NHL Draft - Washington’s third-round pick and Chicago’s seventh-round pick, both of which were previously acquired by the Canadiens. The Blues will also send their seventh-round pick in 2022 to Montreal.

Allen played his major junior hockey in the QMJHL with the Montreal Juniors for two seasons, so this is a great way to return to his humble beginnings. He was drafted by the Blues in the second round (34th overall) in the 2008 NHL Draft. He has played his entire career with St. Louis, posting a 148-94-26 record and a 2.50 goals-against average and a .913 save-percentage in 289 career regular-season games.

This past season with the Blues, he posted a 12-6-3 record with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage in 24 regular-season games. In five games during the NHL's Return to Play, Allen put up a 2-1-1 record with a 1.89 GAA and a .935 save percentage. He ranks second all-time in franchise history in shutouts (21), trailing only Brian Elliott (25).

"I want to personally thank Jake for his dedication to the St. Louis Blues organization during his entire time as a Blue," said general manager Doug Armstrong. "He has always been a top-tier professional who has done everything we have asked of him. We wish Jake and his wife Shannon nothing but the best in Montreal."

The Habs had a lot of picks in the bank and managed to keep all of their players and prospects in a necessary move to bring Carey Price the support he needs in between the pipes for the upcoming season. Allen is signed through next season at a cap hit of $4.35 million. This might allow the Blues to get more space on their cap in order to re-sign captain and star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. 

Canadiens' general manager Marc Bergevin had mentioned how he was not be opposed to further investing in goaltending and just proved it.