Jake Allen knows he’s not there to replace Carey Price

The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have signed goaltender Jake Allen to a two-year contract extension starting in 2023-2024 and worth $3.85M annually. This is news that many have been waiting for given the strong rumors surrounding the CH golf tournament. It has confirmed that the Tricolore are confident that Allen will be able to guard the net during the rebuild.

As my colleague Felix Forget analyzed yesterday, Allen says he’s ready to mentor the youngsters and help the rebuild go smoothly. Another element of Jake Allen’s press conference that also got attention was when CH #34 said he clearly wasn’t there to replace Carey Price.

WATCH #GoHabsGoalie explains why he didn’t want to leave Montreal, even though he could have gotten more money elsewhere https://t.co/QmWjo9ub3Q –

TVA Sports (@TVASports) October 1, 2022

Here is the full quote from Jake Allen’s comments about Carey Price.

Allen’s statement clearly shows that the Carey Price era is now over and that Price has most likely already played his last game with the CH, so Allen is clearly showing that he knows he is not the CH’s goalie of the future, but simply the transition goalie.

At 32 years old, the Tricolore goaltender is aware that he will not be the headliner of the Red and White for many years like Carey Price was. He also knows that he will most likely not lead the CH to its 25th Stanley Cup in its history. We understand that Allen is realistic and that he was not sold a dream by Kent Hughes to stay in Montreal.

Nobody forced him to extend his contract with a team in the early stages of rebuilding. He loves the city and wants to pass on his experience and advice to the youngsters in the organization (especially the young goalies like Cayden Primeau). Allen will allow the youngsters to develop without always losing 7-2 or 5-1.

In short, it’s really good news for Kent Hughes and his team to have a solid transition goalie like this.