When Allen was signed to an extension there was a lot of uncertainty in the Habs goaltending situation and the extension was looked upon favourably by most. I think Hughes did the best he could as far as a return goes. The space used up by the cap retention is not needed badly next year and was the only way to get any sort of return.
Looks like Pezzetta draws back in tonight. Canadiens lines at morning skate:
Caufield-Suzuki-Slaf
Roy-Newhook-Armia
Gallagher-Evans-Anderson
Pezzetta-Pearson-HP
Matheson-Guhle
Xhekaj-Savard
Struble-Harris
Montembault
Exactly, at the time Price was headed to LTIR and Monty was coming off a pretty mediocre first year with the Habs. Hughes doesn't have a crystal ball, so a 2 year contract wasn't a bad thing. It's these 5 and 6 year contracts that can really come back to bite you (ie Gallagher) if you make a mistake.