The Flyers, Oilers, and Sharks are among the most likely destinations for pending UFA netminder Jake Allen if he reaches the open market next week, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Allen reaching UFA status on July 1 seems likely at this stage. The 34-year-old is coming off a strong season as the No. 2 to Jacob Markström in New Jersey. He’s due to command a larger chunk of cash than he usually would otherwise because of a UFA class devoid of starting options. It’s not a guarantee, though. Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said earlier this month he’d make an effort to have Allen back in the fold next season and that there was some mutual interest in an extension.
Things have been quiet since then. Allen projects to land a two-year deal worth $3.5MM per season on the open market, according to AFP Analytics. With Markström likely to still receive the lion’s share of the starts as he enters the final year of his contract and the club looking to leverage its cap space to add to its forward group and get a long-term deal done for RFA defenseman Luke Hughes, that’s likely more than they’re willing to pay to keep him. They might be able to bring him back at a lower cap impact if they extend him a longer contract offer. Still, given his age and the fact that they have internal options like Nico Daws set to play next season on a one-way deal, it’s unclear if they’d be willing to offer him a three or four-year contract to bring the cap hit back down to the $2MM range.
That means Allen could be looking elsewhere for teams in a position to compensate him more up front and give him more than the 29 starts he received in New Jersey this past season. He doesn’t have a particularly lengthy resume as a starting or even 1A option, and he’s only hit the 40-game mark in a season once since 2019. Nonetheless, he played quite well in a 30-game slate last year behind much shoddier defense compared to how the Devils played in front of Markström. His .906 SV% and 2.66 GAA are above-average in their own right but translated to a far more raucous 18.4 goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck. That ranked ninth in the league and was more than names with more starts like Filip Gustavsson, Ilya Sorokin, and Joseph Woll.
He’s a good option to challenge an unestablished younger tandem option for the lion’s share of starts as a result, especially on the short-term commitment he’s expected to command. That makes all of Philadelphia, Edmonton, and San Jose logical fits. The Flyers arguably have the largest need for him. While they have Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov under contract through next season, they were both fringe NHL options at best in 2024-25. Ersson was arguably the worst starter in the league, logging a .883 SV% behind a relatively competent Flyers defense that kept his GAA down to 3.14. While he’s recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons and may still have upside as a backup or 1B option, it’s hard to imagine the Flyers making any reasonable progress in their rebuild if he starts 40-plus games again in 2025-26 based on his underwhelming two years as a starter. Fedotov, while expensive at over $3MM against the cap, could be a candidate for waivers or a loan back to Russia after struggling to the tune of a .880 SV% and -13.6 GSAx in only 26 showings this year.
The Oilers’ need for a goaltending upgrade after Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard combined for a .888 SV% in the playoffs and a .897 mark in the regular season has become painfully apparent. If they’re unwilling or unable to leverage Skinner’s value how they see fit in a trade for a bona fide starting option – a highly unlikely outcome – they’ll likely look to land a modest return for the cost-effective Pickard while acquiring an option with a more recent consistent track record to take pressure off Skinner to be the clear-cut No. 1. They could find that in Allen. At his projected cap hit, they’d still be devoting just $6.1MM to their goaltending tandem, and seeing if Skinner can produce better numbers in a more limited workload will be valuable in helping them determine how aggressively to pursue extension talks for the 2026 UFA.
With Alexandar Georgiev out of the picture, one of the Sharks’ top offseason needs is a veteran goaltender to pair with top prospect Yaroslav Askarov as he graduates to a full-time NHL role for 2025-26. Allen would be the best available stopgap option as Askarov shifts from what will likely be a 40-game workload out of the gate to a 60-game one in a few years’ time. Swapping Allen’s play for Georgiev’s subpar .875 SV% and 3.88 GAA last season is likely enough on its own to vault the Sharks’ record back toward the 70-point range after averaging 53 standings points over the last three seasons amid the darkest years of their rebuild.