Hughes: ‘Allen’s going to be missed’

BROSSARD – The 2024 NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and the Canadiens made a pair of moves leading up to Friday's 3:00 p.m. cutoff point.

On Thursday, the team swapped forward prospects with the Anaheim Ducks, acquiring Jacob Perreault – son of former Habs center Yanic Perreault – in exchange for Jan Mysak. Then on Friday, Jake Allen was dealt to the New Jersey Devils for a conditional third-round pick at the 2025 NHL Draft.

The club also submitted a pair of paper transactions for Joshua Roy and Jayden Struble to make them eligible return to Laval down the stretch.

Here are some highlights from general manager Kent Hughes’ press conference at the conclusion of the day.

Please note that some answers have been modified for clarity and conciseness.

Hughes on the decision to trade Allen:

We had three goalies: we had [Samuel] Montembeault, who could’ve left as an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year [before signing an extension in December]. We weren't ready to risk losing Cayden [Primeau] – with the information we had, we probably would have lost him on waivers. So, we ended up in a situation where we had to have three goalies. During that time, Cayden did well and made us comfortable that he was ready for more regular NHL action. Given where we are, and the age difference of the three goalies, Jake became the most likely candidate to be traded.

Jake has been so professional since the time I got here. His efforts and concerns weren’t just around his own performance in net. He was taking ownership of this team and trying to help us put it in the right direction, knowing he wouldn’t be here for it. I can’t say enough good things about Jake. He was great in net for us, in the locker room, a great leader, and a great member of the community. He’s going to be missed.

Hughes on not making a deal for David Savard:

For us, David is a part of this team. He’s not someone we were actively looking to trade. His value to the team and to our young defensemen is very important to us. That doesn’t mean he’s untradeable, but it wasn’t our objective. [...] Not everything we do can be strictly based on maximizing asset value – ultimately, we’re trying to build a hockey team. If a player has value to us in terms of what we’re trying to build by being physically present and part of our organization, then that’s going to trump trading him later for something a little bit inferior, because there’s value in his time with us.

Hughes on the paper moves filed for Joshua Roy (and Jayden Struble):

The plan would have always been to paper him. The decision comes down to the timing of things, like how much we’d like Laval to make a real push to try to get into the playoffs. We’re hoping that some of our young players can join Laval and help push [for a spot in the playoffs] and benefit from that experience of a playoff run. So, we have to balance that with what we think helps Josh the most, and what we think helps the Montreal Canadiens the most, and for the time being, we’re going to keep him here. I can't tell him – or anybody for that matter – how long that's going to be; it's something we're going to evaluate on a day-to-day basis.

Hughes on whether his phone was busy on Friday:

We received calls about other players, but for the most part, we told [the other teams] they weren’t players we were looking to trade. We were open to listening to offers, but it didn’t get to the point where we received offers.