The New Jersey Devils have officially completed their trade with the Montreal Canadiens for goalie Jake Allen, and things turned out in their favor.
When the deal was made at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, the Devils sent Montreal a conditional third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
That deal included a condition that could have bumped that pick up to a second-rounder if Allen played in 40 or more games during the 2024-25 season and if his team at that time—whether still the Devils or another—qualified for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
That’s a pretty big “if,” and as it turns out, it’s one that won’t come into play.
Now that New Jersey’s recent game against the Pittsburgh Penguins has wrapped, the numbers are final, and the trade condition can’t be triggered.
Allen has played in 25 games so far this season. With only 14 regular season games left for the Devils, the maximum he can possibly reach is 39 games—even if he starts every remaining matchup.
That means he falls just short of the 40-game mark that would have caused the draft pick to become a second-rounder.
And since the Devils haven’t officially clinched a playoff spot yet, but the game count alone already rules out the condition, there’s no scenario now where Montreal gets anything more than that third-round pick.
For the Devils, this is a good outcome.
At the trade deadline, they needed to strengthen their goaltending, so they acquired an experienced and dependable goalie in Jake Allen without sacrificing too much for the future.
Montreal agreed to keep 50% of Allen’s salary, which made the move manageable cap-wise, and New Jersey held onto its more valuable second-round draft pick for 2025.
This matters since an earlier deal with the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Brian Dumoulin gave the Devils two second-round picks in 2025—their own and the better of either the Winnipeg Jets’ or Edmonton Oilers’ pick, depending on which falls higher in the draft order.
Anaheim will take the lower of those two.
With the Allen deal complete, New Jersey will go into the 2025 draft with two second-round picks, and that gives them some serious leverage, whether they use those picks or package them in future deals.
Although they’re sending their third-round pick to Montreal, the Devils still hold another third-round selection from the Vegas Golden Knights, which they acquired in a separate trade involving Paul Cotter.
So, in terms of draft assets, the Devils are still in a strong position.
Now, let’s talk about Jake Allen’s performance. Some fans might look at his win-loss record—11 wins, 13 losses, and 1 overtime loss—and think it’s just average.
But that would be selling him short. After joining New Jersey, Allen has been one of the more consistent goalies. He’s sporting a 2.60 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage, both solid numbers in today’s NHL.
He’s also recorded four shutouts and is ranked sixth in the entire league with 17.0 goals saved above expected, a stat that measures how much a goalie has outperformed based on the quality of shots faced.
That tells you he’s going beyond basic saves, consistently keeping the Devils competitive in tough matchups—precisely the kind of performance you expect from a seasoned goaltender brought in during crunch time.
There was a stretch when it seemed like Allen might play more, especially when Jacob Markstrom went down with an injury.
Some were calling for Allen to take over the starting role entirely, especially after a few tough losses, but let’s not forget how sharp Markstrom was before his injury.
He’s still working his way back into rhythm, and the only way to get back to top form is by playing.
On Saturday, against the Penguins, Markstrom started his 41st game of the season, further cementing his role as the team’s number-one goalie.
Backup Nico Daws has appeared in five games this season as well, which has also limited Allen’s starts.
In the end, Markstrom’s timely return made it so Allen simply couldn’t reach that 40-game mark, and the Devils ended up benefiting from it in the long run.
