Kent Hughes' Genius Recent Move Will Officially Save the Canadiens Over a Million Dollars

Even with his salary retained at 50%, it's nearly $2M that it will cost his new organization to possibly act as a backup goalie. The worst part of all this is that the Devils still paid a conditional third-round pick for his services.

In short, in connection with this trade, TVA Sports journalist Renaud Lavoie revealed significant information about the details of the transaction.

As we learned a few minutes after the confirmation of the deal, New Jersey was one of the teams on Allen's no-trade shortlist.

According to what Lavoie mentioned, the veteran goalie hesitated for a few days before agreeing to waive his no-trade clause, he and his agent Allain Roy had several discussions about the impact such a refusal could have on his career.

So, it was not a move that came out of left field. This option had been on the table for some time, and the ball was in the court of number 34 for what came next.

According to the journalist, if Allen had not agreed to be traded to the Devils and had decided to remain in the Montreal organization, his fate would likely have been to end up in the American League next year, if Hughes had not found a taker for him.

Had Allen ended up in the AHL, his $3.85M cap hit would have been lowered to $2.55M, but that is still more than the $1.925M that is currently being retained. The team equally would not have gotten an additional draft pick.

Lavoie also stated that the goalie market would have been crowded during the summer, with many goalies available for trade or on the free agent market, which would have significantly harmed the possibility of seeing a trade materialize for Allen.

In other words, according to his statements, it was now or never for him (and the Canadiens) to change addresses to avoid ending up in the AHL next year.