The New Jersey Devils have found their backup goalie for the future, but their number one goalie this season. Jake Allen, acquired from the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline, is making many people wonder why this move was not made sooner.
All season long, the New Jersey Devils needed a goaltender. That was Devils President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald‘s number one priority at the deadline. Whether he could have gotten Jacob Markstrom, Juuse Saros, or another goalie out on the market, he wanted to trade for a goalie to stabilize the position.
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Allen has stabilized the position. He will make his fourth consecutive start and fifth overall. With the Devils, he has a record of 3-1, a 1.76 goals-against average, and a .946 save percentage. Those are solid numbers in such a small sample size.
However, Allen is fresh. Remember, he was coming over from Montreal, where he was in a three-goalie system. Allen is giving the Devils the timely saves they desperately needed at the beginning of the season. The team is playing more confidently in front of him because they know they have a guy back there who can make a save.
Allen’s play has allowed the Devils to remain in the Eastern Conference Playoff picture. While his margins are slim, the Devils might get into the playoffs if he keeps playing this way. However, it still does not justify the fact this move should have been made sooner.
The Montreal Canadiens and General Manager Kent Hughes were looking to move Jake Allen before the deadline. Allen had a modified no-trade clause and had to waive it to be traded to New Jersey at the deadline.
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Now, Allen said that after his second practice with his team, the Devils tried to trade for him earlier in the year. He did not waive his no-trade clause then because the Devils had Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid on the roster. Allen believed he would be in the same situation he was in Montreal.
However, as Fitzgerald had stated, the Devils would move Schmid back to the minors to let him develop. It would have been Vanecek and Allen. However, Fitzgerald also moved Vanecek to San Jose for Kaapo Kahkonen to free up money. At the time, Nico Daws was with the Devils.
Daws was unclear about his future with the team once they traded for Allen and Kahkonen. As we saw, Daws was sent to the minors; this same move would have happened if the Devils acquired Allen before they did.
There was a lot of head-scratching throughout the league regarding the Devils moves at the deadline. These moves are viewed more as reactionary ones to firing head coach Lindy Ruff later than they probably should have.
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Not to mention patching together an area the Devils needed to take care of since the summer despite what Fitzgerald said about believing in the duo they had.
Sometimes, you have to wonder if a message was sent or was not sent, in this case, to the goaltenders.
One thing is certain: Jake Allen has been the goaltender the Devils have needed all season. The trade for Allen will be viewed as too little, too late, if the Devils fail to make the playoffs.
However, the real work will begin in the summer when Tom Fitzgerald looks to get the number one goalie to pair with him to solidify the position.
