Devils land Allen from Canadiens

The New Jersey Devils acquired goaltender Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in 2025, the teams announced Friday.

Montreal is retaining 50% of Allen's $3.85-million cap hit, knocking his price tag down to $1.9 million. He's under contract for one more season after this one.

The pick can upgrade to a second-rounder if Allen plays 40 games in 2024-25 and if the team he plays for qualifies for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The 33-year-old veteran owns an .892 save percentage and 3.65 goals against average to go along with a 6-12-3 record this season for the rebuilding Canadiens.

Montreal has been carrying three goalies all season long - Allen, Sam Montembeault, and Cayden Primeau.

Allen spoke about joining the Devils during an appearance on TSN.

"I've known New Jersey has had interest for a while," he said, according to Eyewitness News' Rob Taub. "To make this happen today, I'm really looking forward to the new opportunity and fresh start - to get back into the net and try to get a rhythm again."

Goaltending has been the Devils' biggest weakness this campaign. They rank 30th in the league with a team save percentage of .901 at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.

None of the three netminders New Jersey has relied on this season - Vitek Vanecek, Akira Schmid, and Nico Daws - have a positive value in goals saved above expected or goals saved above average, according to Evolving-Hockey.

Allen has registered a career .908 save percentage across 416 appearances. He won the Stanley Cup as a member of the St. Louis Blues in 2019.

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