The Canadiens will retain 50 per cent of Allen’s salary for this season and next season. The 33-year-old has one season remaining on his contract with a full salary-cap hit of US$3.85 million.

Allen only played in 21 games this season with the Canadiens as they carried three goalies, including Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau. Allen posted a 6-12-3 record with a 3.65 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage.

Montembeault has a 13-11-5 record with a 3.14 GAA and a .905 save percentage, while Primeau is 5-6-2 with a 3.04 GAA and a .901 save percentage. Hughes decided to carry three goalies this season because he believed he would lose Primeau to another NHL team on waivers if he tried to send the 24-year-old down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

Hughes thanked all three goalies for their professionalism during a difficult situation when he met with the media Friday afternoon in Brossard.

“Jake has been so professional from the time that I got here in his efforts and concerns weren’t just around Jake Allen and his performance in net,” Hughes said. “He’s taken ownership of this team in trying to help us put it in the right direction for what we want to accomplish, knowing that he wouldn’t be here for it, whether we kept him for the remainder of his contract or not. So I can’t say enough good things about Jake.