The Edmonton Oilers struggled to start their 2023-24 season, and it’s not something they want to look back on and are hoping they can leave it in the past. While they have turned their season around and find themselves climbing their way back up the Pacific Division standings, it’s hard to believe they still won’t try to acquire a goaltender to bolster their depth and have a more trustworthy tandem heading into the playoffs. With Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard providing sold enough play, it cancels out the fact that Jack Campbell has been a catastrophic failure this season and likely won’t play another game in an Oilers jersey.
Related: Oilers 2023-24 Trade Targets: Louis Domingue
One goaltender the Oilers may look at bringing in to improve their tandem and add to their depth is the Montreal Canadiens’ Jake Allen, who is one of three goalies the Habs currently employ in the NHL and might be moved so they can free up some cap space and add future assets. If the Oilers decide to go out and get a goaltender, Allen is a prime candidate to target based on his affordable contract and the stats he has been putting up playing for a rebuilding team.
As I said, having Skinner and Pickard play well as a tandem has saved the Oilers some time and allowed them to slow down their search for a goaltender on the trade market. However, they will not be winning a Stanley Cup with their current tandem, which isn’t meant to be a shot at Pickard or Skinner, they just don’t have the experience or the resumes to prove themselves as trustworthy for a contending team. With that being said, here is a bit of a dive into who Allen is and why he would benefit the Oilers.
Who Is Jake Allen & What Would It Take To Acquire Him?
Allen is a 33-year-old Canadian goaltender from Fredericton, New Brunswick currently playing with the Canadiens. He was drafted in the second round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft at 34th overall by the St. Louis Blues after a strong showing in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with the St. John’s Fog Devils where he posted a 3.15 goals-against-average (GAA) and a .901 save percentage (SV%) through 30 games. He remained in the QMJHL for two more seasons before jumping to professional hockey in the Blues’ organization.
Allen got his first taste of professional hockey during the 2010-11 season with the Blues’ minor-league affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League (AHL), where he played 47 games and posted a 2.52 GAA and a .917 SV%. He played the following season with the Rivermen, as well, posting a 2.93 GAA and a .915 SV%. He got his first shot in the NHL during the 2012-13 season when he split the season between the Blues and Rivermen, then followed up in the 2013-14 season by playing another full campaign in the AHL.
Allen earned a full-time spot in the NHL in the 2014-15 season with the Blues and hasn’t been back down to the AHL since. He played with the Blues until the conclusion of the 2019-20 season before he began playing with the Habs. He is in his fourth season with the Canadiens and has a 3.52 GAA and a .900 SV%. Throughout his entire NHL career, he has played 409 games, winning 187 of them, and has posted a 2.74 GAA and a .908 SV%.
Allen’s $3.85 million cap hit makes acquiring him a little tougher for the Oilers, who are tight for money at the moment, but it’s not impossible. They would have to find a player making the same or more amount of money, someone like Cody Ceci, to move out to make this work. The Habs would likely ask for a prospect or two and a second or third-round draft pick to make this deal work, which is something the Oilers should be willing to pay.
This season, Allen is posting a worse GAA but a better SV% than both Oilers’ goaltenders. The reason he would be an upgrade over Pickard is that he can play many more games and remain consistent between the pipes, taking some of the pressure off of Skinner. Pickard has only played in six games this season and has only started five of them. While he has been solid, Allen has much more experience and has proven he can be more trustworthy in pressure situations come the postseason.
What’s Next For Allen and The Oilers?
The Oilers have a little break until their next game, which is on Saturday (Jan. 6) in a matchup against the struggling Ottawa Senators. Allen and the Habs don’t play again until Saturday either, when they take on the powerhouse New York Rangers, but he isn’t expected to play in that game. The Oilers are expected to make a strong push for the postseason now that they’re only two points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, but the Habs are a much different story, and they’re expecting a much less successful finish as they’re in the midst of a rebuild. Hopefully, the Oilers will make the right moves before the trade deadline and can turn this team into a championship roster, and maybe bring a Stanley Cup back to Canada.