Getty New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen
Everybody has to make business decisions and professional athletes are definitely part of that group of people. That’s what former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen did before he got traded to the New Jersey Devils ahead of the March 8 trade deadline.
Allen initially refused to waive his no-trade clause when the Devils first came calling the Canadiens about the availability of the goalie, but after some time he ended up accepting the trade to New Jersey. Both parties confirmed the story in the past few days.
“We inquired on Jake Allen a while back but was told we were on his no-trade,” Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald said at his trade deadline press conference on March 8, revealing the initial interest of the Devils in the goalie.
#NEWS: We have acquired G Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for our conditional 2025 3rd-Round Draft Pick.
On Thursday, March 28, Allen sounded off about why he changed his mind about the trade from Montreal to New Jersey.
“You’ve got to make decisions sometimes,” Allen told The Canadian Press, via TSN, on Thursday. “Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit selfish.
“Look yourself in the mirror and wonder what’s best for you and your family.”
Once the Canadiens accepted the Devils’ offer for Allen and let the goalie know about it, Allen accepted the move and removed the no-trade clause from his contract so the deal could go through.
The trade was completed on March 8 with the Devils sending Montreal a conditional third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft in exchange for 33-year-old Allen. The Canadiens retained 50 percent of Allen’s $3.85 million salary. Allen is under contract through next season.
Montreal is Trending Downwards, New Jersey Can Make the Playoffs
With the Canadiens taking the first steps in a rebuilding process, it made sense for the franchise and the goalie to part ways so he could chase the Stanley Cup Playoffs elsewhere.
The Devils, who still stand a chance to clinch a postseason berth, were in a reasonably better position back at the start of March. On the trade deadline day, March 8, New Jersey had 66 points and was just six points off the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.
Although the Devils have cut the distance to five points entering this weekend, there are only nine games left in their schedule, making it a tall task to climb the standings with so few games remaining.
JAKE ALLEN 🤯
As things stand on March 28, the Devils are outside of the wild-card-clinching positions and have 76 points to the New York Islanders 77 and the Detroit Red Wings 79, both of them also out of the two WC places. The Washington Capitals, with 81 points in 72 games, own the second WC seed.
The Canadiens, on the other hand, have 68 points in 72 games and are the No. 15 team in the East only above the atrocious Columbus Blue Jackets (58 points).
That, however, is not the main reason Allen decided to accept a trade to the Devils. According to the veteran goalie, he just saw a great opening in New Jersey’s net that simply wasn’t there when the Eastern Conference franchise first called.
“I thought this was a good opportunity to come in the rest of this year, play some games,” Allen said. “It’s been a good start.”
The Devils Rebuilt Their Nets Entirely Last Trade Deadline
When New Jersey first tried to trade for Allen they still had as many as three NHL goalies in their rotation, including Nico Daws, Akira Schmid, and Vitek Vanecek. The latter two played for the Devils in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“I never thought there would be a spot here,” Allen said referring to that clogged rotation and his not seeing an opening in it.
Then, the Devils traded Vanecek to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for another netminder, Kaapo Kahkonen, and moved both Schmid and Daws down to the AHL, leaving the door open for Allen to get to the club and instantly became the A1 goalie to Kahkonen’s 1B, convincing the former Canadiens netminder to greenlight the move.
Since joining the Devils, Allen has played six games posting a 4-2-0 record with a .925 save percentage and a 2.51 goals-against average.
Throughout the season, including the stints at Montreal and New Jersey, Allen is a combined 10-14-3 with a .900 SV% and a 3.39 GAA. Career-wise, through 11 seasons including this one, Allen is 193-164-41 with averages of .908 SV% and 2.75 GAA.
“Loved my time as a Hab,” Allen conceded. “I always will cherish that.”