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The Canadiens must recreate the pressure of having 3 goalies like last year
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I’m not one of those who thought Kent Hughes was wrong to give Jake Allen a two-year contract extension (2023-2025). At the time, it was the right thing to do.

And even if he had to be traded in 2024, the fact remains that the Habs miss Allen (a little) right now.

I often said, before the 2023-2024 season, that if the Canadiens traded Allen, they’d quickly want another Allen. And in terms of leadership, I don’t think I’m in the ballpark.

Even though I was one of those last year who thought the three-way should end to see what the youngsters had up their sleeves, I’ve never completely disliked the concept.

First of all, the three keepers never wept publicly. They handled it like pros.

And if they say that it’s when something is taken away that you realize its value, it’s clear that seeing Jake Allen prevent Samuel Montembeault from being a #1 and Cayden Primeau from being a regular, makes you realize that the ménage à trois, at some point, was working.

Does that mean we should have gone for James Reimer or Kaapo Kahkonen in the waivers? Not necessarily. And that’s despite the fact that both have certainly been the talk of the Canadiens offices in recent days.

I don’t believe Kent Hughes, who doesn’t like losing assets to waivers, kept Allen for months only to submit Primeau a few months later. It doesn’t make sense… even if Primeau does.

In my opinion, after seeing the Habs ignore two goaltenders in the waivers, it’s time to forget everyone on the outside and everyone who isn’t a real possibility (Jacob Fowler and Carey Price won’t save the Habs this season) and focus on the four real options.

Right now, contractually speaking and in a realistic world, Jakub Dobes and Connor Hughes are the only goalies who can help Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau.

Why not recreate the pressure of the ménage à trois without having to deal with the disadvantages of the daily life of three?

What I’m saying is that, if the Habs can’t easily add a veteran goaltender to force the hand of the two existing goaltenders, they could sit down with the goaltenders and explain to them that Dobes or Hughes are going to play games here and there.

Recalling a goalie for a game and then sending him back to Laval right after the game is done. It would give the Habs’ two current goalies a chance to breathe, as well as testing out the guys down below, who’ve been rolling along nicely for the past month. We often speak highly of them… and the Habs like Dobes.

I have a feeling that if done right, it would take some pressure off Montembeault and Primeau(who is without confidence)… but ironically, it would also have the effect of putting some on them. Every game would be more important, just like last year at this time.

Guys would have to fight for playing time, which would create an internal struggle. It worked last year.

Why couldn’t it work well this year too? And above all, what does the Habs have to lose by trying it now, at the right time?

If Kent Hughes wants to do something without mortgaging his future, he could hardly get better value for money.


Overtime

– Speak of the devil.

– Samuel Montembeault, still an option for Team Canada?[98.5 Sports]

– With Carey Price, rebuilding didn’t exist. [JdeM]

– Playing at home (Vancouver) will cost him a lot in tickets.

– Something to keep in mind.

This content was created with the help of AI.

This content was created with the help of AI.

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