Pair of Eastern Conference teams linked to Stanley Cup winning goaltender

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Cooper Godin
December 22, 2023 (12:29)

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The Montreal Canadiens have been one of a handful of teams who have had three goaltenders on their roster since the start of the 2023-24 season.

With the Canadiens signing Samuel Montembeault to a multi-year contract extension, the expectation is that Jake Allen could find his way out of Montreal via trade before March 8th.

Allen has been linked to a few teams in recent weeks, but two new organization have entered the race to acquire the former Stanley Cup champion.

On Thursday's edition of Insider Trading on TSN, Pierre LeBrun said that the Carolina Hurricanes have had conversations with Canadiens General Manager Kent Hughes regarding Jake Allen. He also added that the New Jersey Devils have internally discussed the possibility of bringing Allen into the fold.

"Yeah, that's the expectation around the league. Montreal did hear from a couple teams over the past week or so that those teams expect to circle back to the Canadiens about Jake Allen. Which doesn't necessarily mean that a trade is imminent, but those conversations will start in a more earnest fashion. Carolina is among the teams that I believe has had a conversation with Montreal recently. New Jersey is a team that has internally debated the Jake Allen idea. We know Martin Brodeur, when he was in St. Louis, spent time with Jake Allen, so he knows him well. I just don't know if the Hurricanes, for example, have decided for sure if they want to trade for a goalie. I think they're trying to wait until Frederik Andersen gets healthy, but not sure if they'll be able to do that." Pierre LeBrun said.

Allen, 33, has one year remaining on his contract beyond the 2023-24 campaign with a cap hit of $3.85 million. Allen's contract also comes with a seven-team no-trade list for the 2023-24 season.

The Fredericton, New Brunswick native has appeared in 13 games for the Canadiens this season where he has a record of 4-6-2 with a 3.43 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.

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