Devils' Allen & Markström Tandem Has High Reward Potential

Though there's some risk with a Jake Allen and Jacob Markström tandem, the rewards could be plentiful for the New Jersey Devils

---

Follow us on Twitter: @AlexC_NJD, @NJD_OnTheRush

---

Goaltending is a problem no more for the New Jersey Devils...well, hopefully. You can't fault general manager Tom Fitzgerald for not fixing goaltending over the last four months.

First, Fitzgerald acquired Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline. He played well in his brief stint with the Devils and should complement Jacob Markström, who the Devils acquired from the Calgary Flames in mid-June.

This looks like a much-improved tandem for the Devils on paper compared to 2023-24. While that is true, that's never a sure bet with goaltending. At the same time, the rewards could be quite fruitful next season if they hit their potential.

Allen Showed Well With the Devils

Let's start with Allen, who got into 13 games for the Devils after the trade deadline. I wouldn't take too much stock into 13 appearances for a goalie, but what he did for the Devils was encouraging.

Allen finished with a .900 save percentage while saving 1.19 goals above expected at all strengths. What's more encouraging is that he finished with a high-danger SV% of .864, and let's say he faced quite a few high-danger shots after joining the Devils.

After Travis Green took over for Lindy Ruff behind the bench, the Devils gave up 2.81 expected goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five and 3.58 at all strengths. That latter number was only 0.08 worse than the Sharks. Needless to say, he was seeing a lot of rubber and from dangerous areas of the ice.

Remember the Devils' 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs where Allen made 42 saves on 45 shots? Or their 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins when he made 36 saves on 38 shots? He had a couple of those games with the Devils, and though they didn't matter for 2023-24, they did give us a glimpse of what Allen could provide moving forward.

The league-average SV% last season was .898. Allen was a slightly above-league-average netminder with the Devils, and in today's NHL, that'll do.

Markström Is an Upgrade, But What Will the Devils Get?

Even behind a porous Montreal Canadiens' defense, Allen fared well. As for Markström, there's been a bit more turbulence over the last few seasons. He finished this season with a .905 SV%, but that's a bit misleading. Before the trade deadline, he had a .911 SV%, but it dropped because he totaled an SV% below .900 in his final ten starts of the season.

At this point, we all know how a trade with the Devils fell apart a few weeks before the trade deadline and that Markström was unhappy about it. Can anyone blame him for not playing his best to close 2023-24? I don't think so.

But even then, he finished in the 99th percentile in high-danger SV% this past season. Combined with Allen's high-danger SV% in New Jersey last season, that could be a recipe for success. And that has been one of Markström's strengths over the previous few seasons.