You might not be successful, arguing Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes would still have had a good 2024 trade deadline without moving goalie Jake Allen. Let’s give it a try anyway, though.
Hughes got it done in the end. So, it is somewhat of a moot point. However, to recap: Heading into the 11th hour, all the Canadiens had managed to do was:
- Flip prospects drafted in 2020 who have yet to pan out (Jan Mysak for Jacob Perreault)
- Trade pending-unrestricted free agent (UFA) Sean Monahan for the first-round pick at least some analysts had doubted he could get.
If all the Canadiens had to show for all of Hughes’ efforts was a first-round pick? It might be slightly underwhelming to some, sure. Objectively though, Monahan was the biggest bullet he had in his arsenal. Because he successfully traded him and got back what some had seen as impossible in the process, he technically did all he absolutely had to at the deadline even before the day of, setting himself up to work his magic on the Allen front.
Hughes Gets His First-Round Pick for Monahan
Granted, the Monahan trade to the Winnipeg Jets came over a full month ago, arguably keeping it from being categorized as a deadline deal. However, waiting simply wasn’t in the Canadiens’ best interest, as the Calgary Flames had arguably just set the market price for centres when they traded Elias Lindholm to the Vancouver Canucks.
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Monahan also has a lengthy injury history. So, waiting, even if it meant potentially getting even more back, was a risk any savvy GM wasn’t going to take, as long as there was a deal to be made then and there. There was, so presto. Plus, considering what some other top forwards went for at the actual deadline, it’s hard to fault Hughes in any way.
It turns out, Hughes arguably got the going rate for all the assets he moved out, maybe even more in Allen’s case. In the trade, the Canadiens sent Allen to the New Jersey Devils for a conditional 2025 third-round pick. It becomes a second if Allen plays 40 games next season and the Devils make the playoffs.
Allen Becomes Another Page in Case Study of Hughes’ Brilliance
Even if Allen doesn’t and the Devils don’t? Considering the Canadiens effectively paid a third-round pick in that aforementioned 2020 NHL Entry Draft to get him back then, it’s hard to see how Hughes could have done better. Truth be told, it would have been entirely forgivable had he gotten far less, as the 33-year-old Allen is 3.5 years older now, while his stats have pretty much dropped each season he’s been with the Habs, albeit as the last line of defense on a poor defensive team.
As the Canadiens have kept backup goalie Cayden Primeau, Allen had arguably dropped down to third on the depth chart, making him expendable. Worse than that, as the three-goalie system had been growing less and less effective (from a starting point that wasn’t all that effective to begin with), Allen had to go in one way or another. While Hughes did have to retain salary on the Allen deal, on a contract that only expires in 2025, it’s hard to envision him having gotten it done any other way. So, credit where it’s due: It’s a win.
In fact, Hughes’ deadline as a whole can only be interpreted as a huge win overall. He may not have traded all his veterans, but that was never a realistic option anyway. He possibly could have traded defenseman David Savard, whose contract also only expires in 2025, but it wasn’t going to be worth it based on what teams were getting for other shutdown defensemen. So, the Canadiens can theoretically make use of his services and leadership for another season, as their only real pure shutdown presence, which isn’t all that bad.
It arguably would have been worse, had the Canadiens chosen Savard over Jordan Harris, with rumors having circulated either could go. As long as the Habs decided to keep the younger Harris too, who has much more to offer the organization in the long run, it shows Hughes’ priorities are in order, i.e., don’t make trades just for the sake of making trades.
Even Perreault Trade Is a Win
The Perreault acquisition may have that vibe on the surface. However, in giving up Mysak, a centre, of which the Habs have many, the Canadiens acquired a right winger with more offensive upside. It may be far from a certainty Perreault develops into anything more than a call-up-calibre player himself, but the son of ex-Hab Yanic Perreault at least has game-breaking potential. If Canadiens fans were looking for another first-round pick, whether via Savard or someone else, Perreault is technically it, in that he was taken 27th overall in 2020.
What else can you expect, but a player taken late, with questionable prospects at developing into a legitimate NHL player? That’s what you’d probably be getting anyway, just without the four seasons of development time the Anaheim Ducks have put in up to now. While losing a former second-round pick in Mysak is less than ideal, objectively speaking he wasn’t going to get a lasting look based on the make-up of the organization’s depth chart. That may be true of Perreault too, but at least Hughes is taking a swing.
Ultimately, the only thing Hughes couldn’t do was turn Tanner Pearson into something of value. It turns out, hoping for a return on a pending UFA who has five goals and six assists in 44 games is a bridge too far. However, if that’s the only “legitimate” complaint to be made, Hughes fared pretty well.
Some critics may still be disappointed. However, if the reason for that is, based on his track record of making great trades and a general propensity to turn something from out of nothing, you feel he could have done more? Well, you’re really just acknowledging Hughes knows what he’s doing. He just proved it again.
If you still have your doubts, in summary, Hughes traded:
- A 2020 second-round pick for a 2020 first-round pick with a higher ceiling
- A backup goalie in decline for more than the Habs initially paid to get him in 2020
- An injury-prone forward on the precipice of decline, whose contract he initially took on for a first-round pick, for yet another first-round pick (and a conditional third)
So, yeah, maybe it’s time to accept the non-controversial notion Hughes did all he even unreasonably could have been expected to accomplish. He absolutely had to address the three-goalie rotation (if not via trade then waivers), and he did. However, in getting what he got for Allen, he only failed to outdo himself because of all he’s managed to do in his relatively short time at the helm of the team. Once it’s time for the Canadiens to compete, they’ll have the assets to trade back thanks to Hughes’ wheeling and dealing. More than that, there’s little reason to doubt he’ll make the right moves then too. After all, he’s pretty much made all the right ones up to now.