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In Hainsight: What to Expect from Jake Allen |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
When Jake Allen signed his contract extension last October, coach Marty St-Louis said: “You need guys that are willing to plant trees knowing they’ll never sit in the shade. You need guys like that. And Jake is that.” We’ll see this season if the bench boss correctly assessed the situation. One of the trees has been planted in this rebuilt and it now needs some sun and TLC to grow and reach its full potential, we’ll see if Allen will be happy to oblige.
Allen will play the first season of his two-year extension this year and it’s likely that he’ll be seeing less action. At 32, the Canadiens know what Allen brings to the table and the above-mentioned St-Louis’ quote perfectly reflects the fact that once the Habs will be ready to contend, the experienced netminder won’t be around anymore.
In the last couple of seasons, we’ve seen that a heavy workload is too much to handle for the veteran’s body and there were numerous injuries. Initially, when the Canadiens acquired him and a draft pick (which became Miguel Tourigny) from the Blues in return for a couple of picks, the plan was to use him as the second-string goaltender behind Carey Price, but fate decided otherwise.
Three years later, Price moved back to BC and will spend the last four years of his contract on LTIR, but waiver pick-up Samuel Montembeault has stepped up to the plate and showed what he can do. He’s done so well in fact that he got an invite to the last World Championships where he backstopped Canada to an unexpected gold medal. In every rebuilt, it’s important to evaluate your assets and know exactly what you have on your hands and this season, Allen should be asked to take a back seat so that the Canadiens can properly assess Montembeault, what he can do as a started and what kind of workload he can handle.
There are some that believe Allen could see even less action if Cayden Primeau stays with the Canadiens to start the season, but personally, I don’t see it. Since being drafted, Primeau hasn’t showed enough to be considered as an NHL goalie and with the overabundance of young defensemen on the team who have showed that they deserve to be with the Habs, I expect the team will be much more likely to keep extra blueliners than a goaltender who has failed to impress so far. Primeau was a seventh-round pick and even if he does have to go through waivers to return to Laval, there’s still a chance he could clear.
In short, this season, I expect Allen to be a good veteran, a leader who accepts a diminished role for the good of the team while Montembeault gets the lion share of the work. This should allow the veteran to stay healthy and create some stability in net for the Canadiens. In an ideal world, Allen shouldn’t see more than 35 games of action this season, which would leave 47 contest for Samuel Montembeault.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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