A major statement from Jake Allen about Price takes everyone by surprise

Despite a return to action at the end of the season, many doubts persist concerning the future of number 31. Some experts even think that he could hang up his skates before the start of next season.

However, as reported by Charles-Alexis Brisebois of Danslescoulisses.com, there is one person for whom there is no doubt that Price will be back at his position next year, and that's his teammate Jake Allen.

The Canadiens' backup goalie was on TSN 690 and said he expects to be the second goalie in Montreal in 2022-2023, as number 31 will be in his position in front of the net as the number one goalie.

Wow, we love it! It's really surprising to see him express himself this way, because even Carey and Kent Hughes seemed to be in the dark about it, but we'll take it!

We remember that Allen also missed several games due to injuries last season, but he still played 35 games and didn't look bad at all under the circumstances.

He says that seeing Price work so hard to get back into the game last year gave him a better understanding of his body. He now knows what he needs to do to get back on the ice in shape and he will work on that this summer.

Back to Price, he played a charity softball game this weekend in British Columbia. He mentioned that he wanted to wait until the end of the summer before deciding if he will be able to continue his career. This is bad news for Kent Hughes who was hoping to get a clear answer before the free agent market opens.

Anyway, Allen's words are rather encouraging for Canadiens fans who hope to see Price back in net this fall.