Devils Should Target Canadiens' Jake Allen in Trade

With some bigger names seemingly off the market, Jake Allen may be the New Jersey Devils' best bet for an upgrade in net

The New Jersey Devils and goaltending issues: a tale as old as time in the post-Martin Brodeur/Cory Schneider era. It looked like they had solved those concerns when Vitek Vanecek posted a .911 save percentage and Akira Schmid posted a .921 SV% a season ago. 

But at least to start the 2023-24 season, Vanecek and Schmid have struggled mightily. Vanecek has an .887 SV%, while Schmid has an .885 SV%. That will not cut it by any stretch, so general manager Tom Fitzgerald may have to make a move. 

One team he could look to is the Montreal Canadiens. They have three goalies and may be looking to clear up that situation soon. Elliotte Friedman reported on the Nov. 11 edition of Saturday Headlines that they may be nearing an extension with Sam Montembault. 

If so, Jake Allen should be someone the Devils and Fitzgerald target if he's available. Let's look at why that's the case and how he'd be an upgrade for a team that needs one. 

Allen an Upgrade, Even if It May Not Seem So

Your first thought reading that the Devils should target Allen may be, "Really, that's the best they can do? Jake Allen?" The reality is that might be the case. Connor Hellebuyck signed a seven-year extension with the Winnipeg Jets, and the Boston Bruins are not trading Jeremy Swayman or Linus Ullmark anytime soon. 

John Gibson may be back under new coach Greg Cronin, but it's too small a sample size to know for sure. Even then, the Anaheim Ducks look competitive to start this season, so they might not want to trade Gibson anytime soon. Juuse Saros doesn't look like he's going anywhere, too. 

That doesn't leave many options for the Devils. Maybe someone like Anthony Stolarz, a New Jersey native, could make sense whenever the Florida Panthers call up Spencer Knight back to the NHL. 

That's why when someone like Allen could be available, you take a hard look at him. His raw numbers over the last couple of seasons may not look overly impressive; he has an .899 SV% over 84 games. But his underlying numbers are solid. 

Allen has done well at even strength, ranking in the 57th percentile in SV%. He's stopped low- and medium-danger shots, though he has struggled to save high-danger shots. He's a consistent goalie, and he generally has quality starts and not many bad ones. And perhaps most importantly, he turns aside what's expected of him: 

One reason Allen may have struggled stopping high-danger shots is because of how bad the Canadiens were before 2023-24; don't forget about the Dominique Ducharme season. At least to start this season, Allen's .838 high-danger SV% is respectable, so that's a positive. 

It's not just his high-danger SV% that's improved, either. Allen's five-on-five SV% of .934 ranks 16th in the NHL. He has an overall SV% of .911, which is miles better than what the Devils are getting from Vanecek and Schmid. 

What's the Canadiens' Price for Allen?

There's no doubt in my mind that Allen is a fit for the Devils. The tricky part is that 1) they probably wouldn't be the only team pursuing him, and 2) their price might be more than Fitzgerald is willing to pay. 

Do I think Allen is worth a first-round pick? No, but the Canadiens might. That doesn't mean they'll get him for that price, but you never know if there's a bidding war. It could still cost the Devils something like a second and a prospect anyway. 

It's tough to place trade value on goalies, but if that's what Allen ultimately goes for, is that a price Fitzgerald wants to pay? Allen has an injury history and is 33 years old, so it's tough to say. They might be better off using those assets to pursue a defenseman like Nikita Zadorov or Noah Hanifin instead of Allen. 

Still, it's not like Allen is a pending UFA. His contract runs through the 2024-25 season at a cap hit of $3.85 million. The Devils would have to move some money now to make that work, so they might wait until they accrue cap space approaching the deadline. But it's not like he'd be a rental. 

That would allow them to send Schmid to the AHL to be the guy with the Comets for this season and even next if they choose. Schmid is not waivers eligible until 2025, so it's not something the Devils have to worry about for a while. They can let him develop in the AHL for quite some time. 

That'd pair Allen with Vanecek as the team's tandem for the foreseeable future. Obviously, the Devils need Vanecek to be much better than he is now. They can't put all the onus on Allen if they acquire him. The split needs to be close to 50/50. 

I think there's reason to be optimistic that Vanecek can rebound, too. He had a .909 SV% across 131 games coming into this season. He's only 27 years old, and I don't think he magically forgot how to play goalie overnight. 

The odds are that Vanecek is off to a bad start, and his underlying numbers suggest the same. He's giving up nearly 0.5 goals more than expected per 60 minutes, the worst mark of his career. I'd expect positive regression in that regard, but goalies are voodoo, so you never know. 

Even then, Fitzgerald and the Devils need to find another option to complement Vanecek. Schmid could be that guy, but they also don't want to ruin his development. They were right in their offseason assessment that the AHL was the best place for him to be this season. 

Unfortunately, that's not an option right now. Allen could help in that regard because he's a solid NHL goalie with some term on his contract, allowing the Devils to send Schmid to the AHL to continue his development. 

Canadiens’ Ask Decides What Route Devils Take

I think it comes down to the Canadiens' ask in return for Allen (if he's the goaltender they decide to move). There are some other needs the Devils have to fill, so Fitzgerald might not want to use assets and cap space to acquire a goalie if Zadorov, Hanifin or another defenseman are options. 

But if Allen is ultimately a route they decide to take, he should help the Devils. As long as he can stay healthy, he should provide them with league-average to above-league-average netminding, something they're not getting right now. 

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