The deadline has passed… now what?

It’s done: the Canadiens have traded Jake Allen.

Now that it’s all behind us(and I’ve put together a text to sum it all up), there are still a few issues to keep an eye on between now and the end of the 2023-2024 campaign.

Here they are.

1. The Habs are going into the next draft without any salary cap space at their disposal. All three were used for 2023-2024, and two of them (Jake Allen and Jeff Petry) will affect the Habs in 2024-2025.

Joel Edmundson will leave the Habs’ books this summer.

2. Now that the ménage à trois is over, I can’t wait to see how the goalies will be used. Will Samuel Montembeault play twice a week and Cayden Primeau once? That’s to be expected.

And above all, how will they respond on the ice during games?

3. So, the Habs didn’t trade David Savard (who didn’t want to leave and whom the Habs love), Tanner Pearson, Jordan Harris or any of those guys whose names have been floating around. These will be files to follow over the summer… except for Pearson, who will be a free agent and will probably leave.

In the summer of 2025, Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak, Jake Evans, Michael Pezzetta, David Savard and Johnathan Kovacevic will all be eligible for full autonomy. That’s a game-changer.

4. I know Monahan and Allen didn’t have an “A” on their jerseys and Nick Suzuki’s assistants are Brendan Gallagher and Mike Matheson, but Savard will also have to take on more leadership on and off the ice.

He can take it… and he’d better take advantage of it, because this summer, Kent Hughes might be more inclined to trade him.

5. As the deadline passed, the Habs decided which players from the current edition of the Habs were eligible for the playoffs in Laval. The answer? Joshua Roy and Jayden Struble. It was expected.

I don’t expect either guy to finish the season on the Montreal side. In my opinion, even if they play well, they’ll eventually go to Laval to push for the playoffs.

So Roy and Struble were sent on paper to Laval and recalled. A club is entitled to four recalls (not related to an emergency, i.e. injury) after the deadline.

Will one of them be used to test Logan Mailloux? Watch this space.

It’s worth noting that if Lane Hutson ends up in Montreal, Struble could well be on the hook. We’ll see in due course how the defensive picture looks, that said… but with David Savard still in place, he takes a spot in the lineup.

Note that David Reinbacher and Adam Engstrom could end their season in Laval.

6. Normally, an NHL line-up consists of just 23 players. Since the Habs had three goalies, the club could only have 20 skaters on the active roster… and 18 have to be dressed.

But now, without Jake Allen, it’s a whole new ballgame. The Habs will have no problem activating Colin White when he wants to come back, since the club has 22 players on its roster right now.

But remember this: after the deadline, there is no 23-player limit. You have to comply with the cap every day, obviously, but it can be done with 24 guys and more, if a club wants it.

As of Saturday morning, the Panthers and Jets have 25 men on their roster. The Maple Leafs and Avalanche have 24.

Extension

7. A trip to CapFriendly reveals that only Carey Price is on the long-term injured list. Kirby Dach, Chris Wideman and Christian Dvorak, all of whom won’t play between now and the end of the season, are on the regular injury list.

The Habs have chosen to go this way and not maximize the space available on the mass. I wonder what the reason is: is it a choice by the organization, which knows the collective agreement better than I do, or did the Habs try to make one more move that didn’t materialize?