Source : Cayden Primeau almost traded to the Blue Jackets

The Canadiens have just suffered five consecutive losses – including two at the Bell Centre – and their chances of making the playoffs are 0%. Not even 0.1%…

You don’t have to be Colombo to know that Kent Hughes, who sold Sean Monahan not long ago, won’t be buying next week. In fact, the Habs have completely crashed since Monahan left. A bit like last year, when Monahan was injured in WesternCanada…

We’re now looking at the odds of winning the lottery and drafting (Macklin Celebrini) first overall next June. Not those of prolonging the pleasure in May…

That’s not much, but it’s better than 0! And a loss tomorrow to the Coyotes would put the Habs at 8.5%. #MatchFromLess4Points

Only the Blue Jackets remain below the Habs in the Eastern standings.

Back to the trade deadline…

Other than maybe Tanner Pearson (I doubt it), a hefty contract belonging to another team or a very minor transaction, I don’t expect much from the Habs.

Unless Kent Hughes can FINALLY put an end to his ménage à trois?

There are only 24 games left on the Tricolore’s schedule, and logically, if Hughes was able to wait until today, I don’t see why he’d move one of his three goalies in a panic now. The season is coming to an end and the damage has already been done. All three goalkeepers have decent statistics at best, and very poor ones at worst.

Jake Allen won just 5 of the 20 games he played in, didn’t even stop 90% of the shots he faced, and allowed an average of nearly four goals per game.

Make no mistake: he’s the one the Habs would like to trade if they could… but at nearly $4 million a year, there’s no crowd for his services. Jeff Gorton discussed Allen with the Avalanche two weeksago… but two days later, while an Avs scout was in town, Allen allowed no less than seven goals to the Blues! Not great for closing a sale, let’s put it that way.

I had a chance to chat with someone in a good position during the last few days; he confirmed that Cayden Primeau had almost been traded to the Blue Jackets at the start of the season. Let’s not forget that after seven starts, Primeau had four wins… and that the Blue Jackets have an Elvis Merzlikins – Daniil Tarasov tandem in net this season.

However, the Blue Jackets’ offer, according to my (one) source, was deemed insufficient by the Habs, who continued to believe that they would be able to pass Allen on to another team. The Blue Jackets weren’t interested in Allen.

Since Primeau has only had two or three bad starts since the start of 2024 (eight games), there’s reason to believe that teams could still show interest in his services over the next 11 days. Perhaps at one minute to midnight, a GM will fall back on the Primeau option?

But it’s really Jake Allen we’d like to pass on to the Habs. Especially since his agent has been putting pressure on Kent Hughes ! Except that Allen is more likely to leave during the summer, when the Habs will be able to absorb more salary than next week. And the other teams will have more room under the (rising) ceiling!

I’m repeating myself, but submitting Jake Allen to the waivers, then sending him to Laval, would have been MY solution. #NullValue

Back to the Blue Jackets…

Jarmo Kekalainen has been fired and the team is currently looking for a new GM. Let’s just say it’s not perfect timing to send them an overpaid goalie…

1. Jean-Charles Lajoie claims that the Habs want nothing to do with Cayden Primeau. It’s more complicated than that. Basically, I’d say that the Habs would like Jake Allen to have Cayden Primeau’s contract. It would be ideal for them. #Veteran #SubstituteGuard

2. Kent Hughes is aware, however, that he can’t trade all his veterans: Ottawa, Edmonton, Arizona… there are too many examples of teams that have rebuilt without an adequate number of veterans. That’s why he values Jake Allen (more than any other GM)… and why he doesn’t expect David Savard to leave Montreal in the next 11 days.

The Habs GM probably regrets not having pulled the trigger when he had the chance with Primeau…

To be continued. The next few days will be interesting. If I had to bet anything, I’d say Jake Allen will be traded next June. But I wouldn’t bet my house on it, as the outcome of this file has been difficult to predict from the start.

Kent Hughes will have to agree to receive nothing in return for Jake Allen… or a little something in return for Cayden Primeau. The three-keeper status quo won’t have to be the norm come September, when the next camp opens. Your call, Kent!

In bursts

– The first time he met Kevin Gilmore in person, Gary Bettman called him an asshole.

When Kevin Gilmore first met Gary Bettman, he was called an as*h*le. #Stanley25 #Podcast #4eÉpisode @MaximeTruman @DLCoulisses @LaCoupeChezNous pic.twitter.com/XcWQDHzxvv

– 9millions (@9millions_) February 26, 2024

– A goalkeeper is injured in Laval.

– The Red Sox met with Jordan Montgomery.