The New Jersey Devils’ quest to acquire Jacob Markström may have to wait until the offseason. But for now, they’ve brought in another Jake to help stabilize their goaltending situation. Earlier this afternoon, Elliotte Friedman and Pierre LeBrun reported that the Devils were acquiring Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a conditional third-round pick. The Canadiens also retained 50 percent of Allen’s $3.85 million cap hit, which runs through next season. Here are the full details:
Allen had an .892 save percentage at the time of the trade, but his underlying numbers are solid. How did the Devils fare? And did the Canadiens get a fair return for Allen after holding on to him for so long? Let’s grade each side.
Allen Should Stabilize Shaky Devils Goaltending Situation
Between Vitek Vaněček, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid, the Devils’ goaltending has been wildly inconsistent this season. Vaněček has a save percentage of .890 and has been one of the worst goalies in the league based on goals saved above expected. Daws and Schmid have had some good and bad moments, but they’re both young and developing.
Part of the Devils’ goaltending struggles are due to their defense regressing and allowing plenty of quality chances. But make no mistake, their goaltending has not made matters better. The good thing is that Allen is coming from a team, the Canadiens, who have been worse than the Devils defensively.
Related: Devils Acquire Jake Allen From Canadiens For Draft Pick
Allen has given up 2.8 goals above expected this season, so just a bit below expectation. But as mentioned, his underlying numbers have been solid. He has a five-on-five SV% of .916 and a high-danger SV% of .823 at that game state. Those numbers are better than all three goalies the Devils have used this season, and by a comfortable margin.
When looking at his player card from JFresh, there’s plenty to like. He’s been consistent, puts up quality starts at a better rate than the Devils’ goaltenders, and doesn’t have many bad starts:
The Devils gave up a third-rounder that can become a second if Allen plays 40 games with the Devils over the next season and a half. A third-round pick is fair value for him. If it becomes a second, then maybe it’s an overpay, but that depends on how Allen performs once he gets to New Jersey.
Overall, I think the Devils did well here. Allen is likely just one part of the goaltending puzzle they try to solve over the coming months. Getting him at 50 percent retained is significant because it allows them to pursue other options like Markström and Linus Ullmark in the offseason since Allen’s cap hit will be just below $2 million.
Devils Grade: B
Canadiens Managed Allen Well
The Canadiens have had a three-headed goalie monster for quite some time, so it’s not a surprise they decided to move off one before today’s 3 PM deadline. They held out for a while to get the return they wanted, but I think they did well here, too. A third-rounder for Allen is fair based on his counting totals, and the pick turning into a second would only improve their return. Time will tell on that and whether he plays that many games with the Devils over the next season and a half.
With Allen out, the Canadiens can move forward with Sam Montembault, who they signed to an extension earlier this season, and Cayden Primeau, a young goalie who’s been solid in limited minutes behind Allen and Montembault this season.
Do I think the Canadiens could have gotten more because they retained? Probably not. General manager Kent Hughes got the best he could have and opened up a spot for Primeau and Montembault to take the reins the rest of the way. He did well to manage what was one of his better trade assets this season.
Canadiens Grade: B
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Advanced stats from Money Puck, Natural Stat Trick