Half of the New Jersey Devils goaltending tandem from this season hits unrestricted free agency this summer. We look at what he did in his time as a Devil and whether or not the team should bring him back.
Today continues our 2025 AATJ Free Agent Profile series that has been going on this week with Jared looking at the biggest Devils restricted free agent in Luke Hughes and Chris looking at our first unrestricted free agent in Brian Dumoulin. Today we continue with UFAs to look at arguably the second biggest piece that the Devils have hitting free agency this summer. That would be goaltender Jake Allen, as while not the team’s starter this season, he still played an important role, both as backup and when Jacob Markstrom was hurt.
Goaltending is always a valuable, yet volatile position in the NHL. For players like Allen, who bring value as both a backup and as a potential spot starter, some teams may be willing to pay a premium if they feel it shores up the crease. With the Devils being one of the teams where goaltending isn’t a certain, they could use to bring Jake back; but at what price?
Who is Jake Allen
Most NHL and New Jersey Devils fans know who Allen is already, as after 12 seasons in the league, he’s somewhat of a household name. His career began in 2012-13 with the St. Louis Blues, the team that drafted him back in 2008. After spending a good portion of his career as the team’s starter, he began to share the crease with Jordan Binnington for a pair of seasons before being moved to the Montreal Canadiens. He spent his time there mostly as one of the top two options, until 2023-24 where he was part of a three goalie platoon. During this time, he was scratched on a few occasions. When goaltending woes began to plague the Devils, they reached outa and made a deal for one of those three platoon goalies, that of course being Allen.
What Has Allen Done as a Devil?
Allen came to a Devils team in crisis in 2023-24, as every goaltender the team had used to any extent prior struggled. While the season was already pretty much lost upon his arrival, he did a respectable job backstopping a very inconsistent team for the remainder of that season. He made 13 appearances going 6-6-1 with a .900 save percentage and 3.11 goals against average. Not exactly sparkling numbers, but anyone who remembers the way the team was playing that season can give him a bit of a pass from a sheer numbers standpoint. In watching the games, he proved to be an asset for the team that could be part of something bigger come 2024-25.
With the Devils adding Markstrom, Allen shifted to more of a backup role this past season, aside from the portion of it where Markstrom dealt with injury. While he had some rough games and patches over the season, he finished with a decent .908 save percentage and 2.66 goals against to go along with 18.4 goals saved above expected. His trajectory was essentially the opposite of his counterpart’s; while Marky started strong and finished the regular season poorly (although he rebounded for the playoffs) Allen was shaky and inconsistent to the point where I questioned if the team should go in a different direction once Markstrom was healthy enough to return. He did, however, recover nicely to end the season, so well in fact that his stats were actually superior to Markstrom’s. In that regard, I will admit I was wrong, however there’s still reason for caution going forward.
What Will Allen do Going Forward?
At age 34 (with his age 35 season coming up), it’s unclear exactly how well Allen will progress. He could wind up being a reliable backup who plays similarly to this season for another couple of years before getting to a point where he is closer to retirement. At the same time, goalies are unpredictable as we always like to say (and have experienced unfortunately) and Allen could wind up regressing as soon as next season. That potential is sadly always there in a league as fast and ever evolving as the NHL, but it still merits reminding and needs to be considered when discussing and planning for free agent contract signings.
Don’t get me wrong, one way or another, there will be a team who signs Allen, and as I’ve somewhat alluded to, I wouldn’t mind if it were the Devils. However, it has to make sense in terms of dollars and deal length. Allen might be looking at one last long-term deal this summer, and the Devils might not want to be the team who gives it to him; if he regresses, he becomes another cap anchor on a team that can’t afford that. On the other hand, goaltending isn’t in a good enough position for the team to just let him walk as a free agent either. The hope here has to be Allen keeping up at least his current standard of play for another season or two.
Who are Allen’s Comparables and What is His Value?
I’m going to go ahead and use a contract that was just signed as a comparable here, with Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen. While his SV% was lower than Allen’s this season, his GAA was actually a bit better and both goalies are roughly the same age. Their previous contracts were also fairly close in terms of dollars as well. Andersen recently inked a one year extension for $2.75 million. If the Devils could bring Jake back for that same price, I don’t think they hesitate to do so.
For those hoping to get Allen back for cheap, unfortunately that’s not the direction that AFPAnalytics has him trending in. They’re forecasting Allen receiving a two year, roughly $7 million contract this summer, for an average annual value of $3.5 million. That’s actually a decrease in terms of salary and cap hit from what he had as a Devil (due to retention when the Devils acquired him) but a full $3.5 million might be too much for a soon to be 35 year old goalie. Some of the money could be offset thanks to the salary cap increase on the horizon, however that’s still a large amount for a guy who projects to be the Devils backup.
What Would I Do With Allen and What Do I Think the Devils Will Do?
Now projections can always be incorrect and sometimes players will take deals either out of loyalty, or willingness to help the team, or sometimes they just don’t get the offers that these projections expect that they will. If I’m the Devils, I’m going to Allen with roughly the same deal that Carolina brought to Andersen, saying look, this is what was just signed for a guy around the same age with roughly similar stats, and this is our similar offer to you. Maybe the money is a bit higher for Jake, as he did stop a better percentage of shots, and the Devils could incentivize him not to test a weak goalie market in this way as well.
If I were calling the shots, that’s the decision I make. If the Devils were more certain that any prospect could handle the backup role, then you let Allen walk. They don’t seem to have an abundance of trust in Nico Daws and a lot of the other prospects are still raw and need developing. The goalie market doesn’t project to be strong as I said above as well, so the Devils probably don’t have as good of an option through free agency, especially when they’re probably not looking to spend a whole lot more money on backup goaltending. One more season of Markstrom and Allen gives the Devils at least some confidence in their goaltending, and then prospects and possibilities can be reassessed next summer.
Final Thoughts and Your Take
The Devils goaltending situation still isn’t on solid enough ground that the team can afford to let Jake Allen go. Unless he is looking for an extravagant overpay, the Devils should try to bring him back for one more year. The team can keep their cap structure in check this way, and also allow their prospects time to develop further before figuring out what the goalie situation of the future looks like. Aleen is a dependable veteran and unless his play falls completely off a cliff next season, having him back in the fold doesn’t hurt in a league where you can never have enough depth.
What are your thoughts on Jake Allen potentially returning to the Devils; would you like to see him back for one more year? Does it depend on length and money of his expected deal? Would you rather go in a different direction for a backup next season, and if so, who? Leave any and all comments down below and thanks as always for reading!