Montreal’s General Manager, Kent Hughes, made a move before Friday’s NHL trade deadline, sending Jake Allen to New Jersey. In return, they acquired a conditional third-round draft pick in 2025 from the Devils. This pick could potentially upgrade to a second-round pick in 2025 if Allen participates in 40 or more games next season and if his team, whether it’s the Devils or another team he may be traded to, makes it to the 2025 playoffs.

The Canadiens will cover half of Allen’s salary for both the current and upcoming seasons. The 33-year-old goaltender has one season left on his contract with a total salary-cap hit of US$3.85 million.

During this season, Allen only played in 21 games for the Canadiens, as they had three goalies on their roster, including Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau. Allen recorded a 6-12-3 record with a 3.65 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage.

Montembeault boasts a 13-11-5 record with a 3.14 GAA and a .905 save percentage, while Primeau holds a 5-6-2 record with a 3.04 GAA and a .901 save percentage. Hughes opted to keep three goalies this season because he feared losing Primeau to another NHL team on waivers if he attempted to send the 24-year-old down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

Hughes expressed gratitude to all three goalies for their professionalism amid a challenging situation when he addressed the media on Friday afternoon in Brossard.

“Jake has been so professional from the time that I got here in his efforts and concerns weren’t just around Jake Allen and his performance in net,” Hughes said. “He’s taken ownership of this team in trying to help us put it in the right direction for what we want to accomplish, knowing that he wouldn’t be here for it, whether we kept him for the remainder of his contract or not. So I can’t say enough good things about Jake.