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Trade: Montreal adds more D, acquires Allen from Ducks for Bourque

Bryan Allen

Bryan Allen

AP

Bit of a late-day surprise given both teams are in action tonight, but Montreal has sent forward Rene Bourque to Anaheim in exchange for veteran defenseman Bryan Allen.

The 34-year-old Allen comes to Montreal having recently returned from an injury that cost him the first 14 games of the year. A physical blueliner, Allen has one point in six games this season, averaging 18:12 TOI per night.

He’s also in the last of a three-year, $10.5 million deal that pays $3.5M annually.

As for Bourque, he’s been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. After a poor start (no goals in 13 games) he was waived, went unclaimed and then sent to AHL Hamilton, where he’s spent the last 10 days -- a dramatic fall from grace for a guy who, earlier this spring, led the Habs in playoff goals (eight) en route to the Eastern Conference Final.

Bourque, 32, has this year and the next remaining on his six-year, $20 million deal, which carries a $3.33M cap hit.

At first glance, the move gives Montreal a tremendous amount of depth on the back end -- the Habs had already acquired Sergei Gonchar last week, which allowed them to send promising youngster Jarred Tinordi back to the American League. The deal also reunites Allen with Habs GM Marc Bergevin -- they were teammates in Vancouver -- and gets Bourque’s money off the books for next year

For Anaheim, the move could provide a spark for a guy that’s fallen on hard times. Bourque’s best years did come in the Western Conference -- he had back-to-back 27-goal seasons for Calgary from 2009-11.

Am told there was NO salary retained in Bourque-Allen deal. Straight up trade

— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) November 20, 2014