One of the biggest areas to fix on Montreal's roster was their goaltending depth. They needed someone to take the load off Price’s shoulder while giving the team a good chance of winning. With Kinklad, Niemi, and Lindgren, they didn't stand a great chance. Montreal answered this question with a bang today as they traded a 3rd round pick and a 7th round pick in the 2020 draft to Saint Louis for Jake Allen and a 2022 7th round pick. Below are some of my immediate thoughts on the trade and how it addresses the depth issue Montreal has been facing:
Upgrade!
First things first, Jake Allen is a massive improvement to the goalie position for Montreal. Even if his ability to be a true start in the league has been questioned, he has worked extremely well in a goalie tandem for the last two years in St. Louis. This is arguably one of the best goalies on the trade market. After Binnington struggled against Vancouver, Allen came in and played as well as anyone could expect a 1B goalie to preform, even posting a .925 save percentage. Compared to either Kinklad or Lindgren, this is an immense upgrade.
Term and $$ was Important
Some things to consider with this trade are how the term of Allen’s contract played a huge part as well as the money he is owed. While some might be shocked that he will make close to $4.5 million dollars next year just to be a backup to Price, Montreal has cap space in spades. Even after this deal, they have $16.6 million dollars with just Domi and Mete as key RFA's to resign. Couple that with St. Louis cap struggles, it was a perfect fit. St. Louis saved $4.5 million dollars to resign key free agents on their team, got rid of a player where they feel they have the position well covered in Binnington, and picked up a 3rd round draft pick it what is considered a deep draft. Montreal, in turn, spent money that they have an abundance of, filled a position of need with a premier option, and only spent a 3rd round pick (when they have one 1st's, three 2nd's, and one 3rd round pick after this trade in this draft). It was important to Montreal to only have a goalie with one year left as Primeau is the heir apparent for the backup position, maybe even as early as next year.
3rd Round Pick for Free?
Interestingly enough, the 3rd rounder used as the main trade chip going to STL was the same 3rd rounder that Montreal got for Ilya Kovalchuk at the trade deadline. Considering that Montreal signed him as a free agent, had him for 3 weeks, flipped him for a 3rd round pick, then used that pick to get Jake Allen, is incredible. Montreal has absolutely won the "asset management award" for this entire trade tree. The risk/reward factor for the Ilya Kovalchuk has paid off in abundance.
Finally Leveraging Cap Space
Marc Bergevin has been criticized for not spending more of his money in the past few years primarily because his Montreal teams haven’t been up to snuff with what is expected in Montreal. He finally leveraged his space for a great addition to the team. The last time he did something resembling this form of cap asset management was when he picked up Joel Armia for taking on the contract of Steve Mason. Excellent move that should happen more frequently with the COVID-19 impact on the financial landscape of the NHL
All in all, this is a terrific trade for Montreal as it provides stability in the organization’s roster as well as payroll. With this major question being answered, I wonder if Montreal goes after someone else who might be on the trade block, players such as Laine, Ehlers, or Niederreiter. This offseason was dubbed as one of the most important offseasons in recent history and Marc Bergevin is already off to the races.
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