Almost Bourque Traded to Ducks for Bryan Allen

When we thought Marc Bergevin could not make a better deal than the Moen vs Gonchar trade, we learned today that the Montreal Canadiens had traded disappointing forward Rene Bourque to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for rugged defenseman Bryan Allen.

The 34-year-old Allen comes to Montreal only played six games this season after sustaining an injury that cost him the first 14 games of the year. A physical defender, Allen has only one point this season, playing 18:12 on average per night. The 6'5'', 225-lb, native of Kingston, Ontario will provide leadership, size and grit to the Habs' blue line, qualities that were missing this season, especially against bigger teams.

The former Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers, among other teams, is also in the last year of a three-year, $10.5 million deal that pays him $3.5 million annually. The move will allow the Canadiens to clear more cap space for next season as Rene Bourque was slated to receive $2.5 million for a cap hit of $3.33 million.

After a poor start on the season,. #AlmostBourque had been demoted to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL. In 13 games with the Canadiens, Bourque had no goal and only two assists with a -9 rating before being put on waivers and demoted after clearing. There was no money retained in the deal on either side.

At first glance, this trade gives the Canadiens a lot of depth on the blue line, pushing young defenseman Nathan Beaulieu on the outside looking in and probably on a bus to Hamilton after a disappointing start to the season.

You have to hand it to Bergevin has he was able to clear out $5.183 million in cap space for this upcoming summer by swapping Travis Moen for Sergei Gonchar and Rene Bourque for Bryan Allen. This will allow him plenty of room to re-sign impending RFAs Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, Michael Bournival, Jarred Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu.

The bad news is that Bryan Allen is on the decline and that is not a good puck moving defenseman who struggles against faster teams. Allen's Corsi is at 48.4% which is not too bad considering he is not an offensive juggernaut and he has been hampered by nagging injuries the last three seasons.

Also, we know that Michel Therrien loves his veterans, so this basically spells the end for Beaulieu and Tinordi this season and we can expect Allen to rotate with Tom Gilbert and Mike Weaver on the team's third pairing. 

The other possibility is that Bergevin will trade a defenseman for some offensive help, especially on the wings where the Habs could use a big power forward to play with the team's smaller pivots. 

Finally, I think Bergevin made the last two deals to clear cap space after the current season to land a big fish via trade from a team which is sitting tight against the cap such as the Blackhawks, the Bruins, the Capitals or the Flyers, Remember when the Booins traded Johnnny Boychuk for some picks before the season due to cap space problems... Well Boychuk now has 2 goals and 10 helpers for 12 points in 17 games with a +5 rating!

Do you like this trade? If not, why?

No Foolin' Fred Poulin

Follow me on Twitter at @FredPoulin98

Posted in: AlmostBourque,Bryan Allen,jarred tinordi,marc bergevin,michel therrien,nathan beaulieu,NHL,rene bourque,rumors,trade,Transaction