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Canadiens Analysis

Evaluating Value Of Canadiens’ Jake Allen Trade, Future Impact

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2 months ago

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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen was traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a conditional third-round pick. And with that comes the end of the speculation surrounding this Trade Deadline.

The Habs will be retaining 50% of Allen’s salary (which has a cap hit of 3.85 M$ and runs until the end of the 2024-25 season), using their third and final retention spot for this year.

As for next year, the Montreal Canadiens will see two of their three spots used, as Joel Edmundson’s retained salary will be coming off the books at the end of this ongoing season. Jeff Petry will be the other player Geoff Molson will be paying to play elsewhere next year.

The condition on the pick the Canadiens will be receiving has to do with the number of games Allen will be playing between now and the end of the 2024-25 season. If that number is 40 or higher, Kent Hughes will be getting a second-round pick instead.

Good or bad trade?

Considering the long overdue end to the Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender three-way tango, it’s a good thing. No two ways about it.

When you look at the trades that have been made in the last few hours, it’s clear it was a buyer’s market. With that in mind, Kent Hughes still managed to get some pretty decent value (amazing value if the pick becomes a second-rounder)!

Jake Allen pretty much netted a similar return to Tyler Toffoli.

The 33-year-old netminder boasts some pretty average stats, currently riding a cumulative .908 save percentage (SV%) for the season. He’s had some terrific starts to his recent seasons, only to see his level of play, and success, decrease as the seasons wore on.

Allen still ranks in the top 30 for Goals Saved Above Average, but a lot of this is due to his strong start as he recently posted sub .900% SV% in his five last starts.

So, while he has value, he was not going to fetch a massive return.

Allen was acquired from the Blues in 2020 for a third-round pick (and a swap of seventh-rounders), so in a sense, the Montreal Canadiens got four seasons for “free” out of him.

Not bad considering he helped the 2020-21 Canadiens get through a season that got them to the Stanley Cup Finals!

Addition by subtraction

The main advantage (on top of shedding close to two million dollars next season) is Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau will be getting more starts to finish the season.

Primeau only saw 14 starts (21%) on the year, and Montembeault was limited to 30 (46%), as Allen saw the second most, with 21 (32%). A good balance of roughly 60-40 between Montembeault and Primeau should see the latter get the nod about 7 times between now and the end of the season – half of what he’s had all year! It will be a great way to evaluate where he is at in his development, and how they both handle a “normal” workload.

As for fit for Allen, if there’s one team that’s “horny”, it’s the Devils. He should fit right in.

Thanks for the memories, Jake!

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