His all-important relationship with Price is steadily taking shape, too. Allen had been eagerly anticipating the chance to practice with the seven-time All-Star since the trade was completed and he's confident the duo will deliver the goods.
"Carey's going to be awesome to work with. It took the last couple of months for it all to soak in and realize I get to be a tandem with one of the best goalies in the world for the last decade-plus," said Allen, who signed a two-year extension through the 2022-23 season in mid-October. "On the ice is the easy part, but off the ice is the important part. You want to be able to have that good, solid relationship. I think we're going to get along great and take things forward."
Allen envisions their partnership being mutually beneficial development-wise. He's primed to absorb as much information as possible from Price to better his game, and happy to share any goaltending intel with his counterpart, too.
"I'm always trying to learn. The game's changing every year, every season. I think the biggest thing for me is to be able to learn from Carey's tenure here with the Canadiens, being one of the best goalies in the league for the past 10-12 years. To do that consistently is a feat that not many guys can pull off. I feel that just being able to watch him night in and night out and learn little things and little tricks of the trade that he uses will be huge," mentioned Allen. "Maybe he can also learn a couple of things from me. Every goalie can always take something from each goalie and that's my objective, especially at the start, just to sort of understand his game and why he's so good, successful and can contribute to my game."