Confirmed with Link: Jake Allen (50% retained) traded to the Devils for cond. 2025 3rd (2025 2nd if Allen plays in 40+ games and team qualifies for playoffs next season)

[Milhouse40]

Looking at it from New Jersey's position, surely they had issues in front of the net and have had injury issues. but they are still 6 pts out of a playoff spot.

1) They move their top goal scorer in Toffoli for a 2nd and a 3rd, while retaining 50% of his $4.25M cap hit. So they still carry $2.125M.

2) They trade a condition 3rd for Allen, with Habs retaining 50% of his $3.85M, so Devils only have $1.925M.

So $2.125M + $1.925M = $4.05M.

So they saved $200K on the cap by shipping their top goal scorer out and bringing in another team's third goalie. And all they netted out of that in draft capital is a 2024 2nd round pick.

It is somekind of a trend, as we've seen this last year too....Teams are selling and buying at the same time, which hardly make senses.

 

[Adam Michaels]

It is somekind of a trend, as we've seen this last year too....Teams are selling and buying at the same time, which hardly make senses.

The worst part is they traded for Allen, who has a .892 SV% in 21 GP.

But Schmid is .895 SV% in 19 games. Daws is .890 SV% in 19 games.

So in the end, they acquired a goalie who is not that much better than what they already have.

 

[Canadienna]

This management group so far seems to make good use of picks in this range. They can be valuable.

 

[Milhouse40]

The worst part is they traded for Allen, who has a .892 SV% in 21 GP.

But Schmid is .895 SV% in 19 games. Daws is .890 SV% in 19 games.

So in the end, they acquired a goalie who is not that much better than what they already have.

Yeah, my guess is they only got Allen cause they want a veteran and not only 2 kids in net but not sure it makes any more senses after trading Toffoli.

 

[Adam Michaels]

A trade and a signing can't really be compare.....what the hell did we actually lost in signing Allen?
Cap space? Who cares we got a pick for it. Not like losing Sergachev.....

And we didn't needed to trade Allen, let's not forget that. The ONLY reason he's being traded is to make room for Primeau. If it wasn't for Primeau, there would be no talk of trading Allen.

The timing here was important. Hugues could have easily wait until this summer or even next trade deadline before trading Allen to get better value or not even retaining on Allen. Do you really think NJ got Allen for this and next season because they think he significantly declined? It's trade deadline, everybody retained salary, even for top players.

Retaining Allen (and Petry) for 2 years is not as bad as the Sharks, who are retaining on Karlsson and Hertl until 2028-29 and still have 2 more years left retaining on Burns.

Yeah, my guess is they only got Allen cause they want a veteran and not only 2 kids in net but not sure it makes any more senses after trading Toffoli.

It's kind of like Habs acquiring Hammond two years ago to have Primeau go back to Laval. Schmid was sent to Utica as soon as Allen was acquired.

 

[Sorinth]

The fact that he jumped the gun and grossly overpaid for a backup where he needed to retain half the salary to get a (likely) mid round pick back. For instance, we can only retain one of Armia/Dvorak/Savard now if we choose to trade them. They may be more valuable at 50% than Allen was.

It was an extension of the current deal he was on, so it's not the same thing. Nick Foligno also got extended for 2 years from his current deal, but the Hawks won't trade him because money for them doesn't matter when he's supposed to mentor Bedard. If a player emerges to overtake Foligno's current spot, that is still okay for the Hawks considering they are still lacking in NHL talent and still do not intend to trade him. It takes a lot more forwards to overtake Foligno for the Hawks than there would be goalies to overtake Allen on the Habs at the time.

The term and cap is the issue, not just the term. Had he extended Allen for 1.9x2 which is what he's retaining, then yes it's totally fine considering we are not hurt by it. Retaining on him for next year too hurts our chances of maximizing the return of one of Armia/Dvorak/Savard.

If the worst thing you can say about it is that we lose out on the potential return of we'd get from retaining 50% on Armia then just wow. Like seriously is that the complaint?

 

[The Great Weal]

A trade and a signing can't really be compare

As I said, it's a way more extreme version.

.....what the hell did we actually lost in signing Allen?
Cap space? Who cares we got a pick for it. Not like losing Sergachev.....

A retention slot that could be used on Armia/Dvorak/Savard instead. Again, this has nothing to do with the magnitude of either move, but it has to do with the argument that "it didn't look bad at the time". The point I'm making is that just because a point didn't look bad at the time doesn't mean it deserves zero criticism.

And we didn't needed to trade Allen, let's not forget that. The ONLY reason he's being traded is to make room for Primeau. If it wasn't for Primeau, there would be no talk of trading Allen.

The Habs were going to resolve this 3 goalie situation way before waiting out Allen's contract. Screwing over Primeau (who they clearly value a good bit) next year just because Hughes doesn't want to look "bad" was never going to happen.

The timing here was important. Hugues could have easily wait until this summer or even next trade deadline before trading Allen to get better value or not even retaining on Allen.

Or you know, he doesn't get better value. We can't know as of now. Maybe Allen bounces back big time next year where we could have gotten more or maybe he continues to regress and it would have minimized the return. We absolutely do not know if he could have easily gotten better value for Allen in the future.

Do you really think NJ got Allen for this and next season because they think he significantly declined? It's trade deadline, everybody retained salary, even for top players.

No they got him because they have the worst goaltending in the league. Do you really think NJ wants to roll with Allen as their starter next year? Yes everyone retains salary, but doing so for a contract that lasts past this year is a tougher pill to swallow when we could have used that on Armia/Savard/Dvorak instead.

Either way, it's not a big deal. Hughes made the best of the situation. He has to deal with a million bad contracts that MB leftover. That being said the Allen extension was not a good one and saying this using hindsight doesn't make it less true.

 

[The Great Weal]

If the worst thing you can say about it is that we lose out on the potential return of we'd get from retaining 50% on Armia then just wow. Like seriously is that the complaint?

I've made it clear that the contract wasn't this disastrous move that will destroy the franchise. It's a minor hiccup and no GM is perfect. But yes that retention slot could have been used on Savard instead to potentially get a 1st or Armia to potentially get a 2nd. It's not even a complaint, it's pointing out the facts.

 

[Sorinth]

I've made it clear that the contract wasn't this disastrous move that will destroy the franchise. It's a minor hiccup and no GM is perfect. But yes that retention slot could have been used on Savard instead to potentially get a 1st or Armia to potentially get a 2nd. It's not even a complaint, it's pointing out the facts.

Getting a 2nd for Armia isn't a fact it's a fantasy.

 

[JianYang]

Wow, how did hughes pull this off? No retention?

 

[Agalloch]

Getting a 2nd for Armia isn't a fact it's a fantasy.

Agree, it will never happen. Maybe Armia is gone this summer like Hoffman last year. (salary dump)

Also, some teams need to reach the floor at one point (Chicago, Arizona, San Jose).

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

Agree, it will never happen. Maybe Armia is gone this summer like Hoffman last year.

There really isn't a lot jam at forward for young players like on D. I can honestly see them trading Dvorak at the next TDL for like a 3rd and Savard for a 1st. Probably gonna keep Armia tho. The person they'll probably have to package stuff to get rid of is gallagher

 

[red devil]

Wow, how did hughes pull this off? No retention?

They retained 50%

 

[Team_Spirit]

Allen and Kahkonen interesting...

Toffoli off the team unlock Holtz maybe? Not counting the Devils out

 

[Agalloch]

There really isn't a lot jam at forward for young players like on D. I can honestly see them trading Dvorak at the next TDL for like a 3rd and Savard for a 1st. Probably gonna keep Armia tho. The person they'll probably have to package stuff to get rid of is gallagher

Too long of a contract to trade right now. I expect some bottom teams to be interested for one year of Armia or Dvorak (I prefer keeping Dvorak because he's a center... for now). Armia can be easily replaced on the 3rd or 4th line. (Heineman should be ready full time next year)

 

[JianYang]

They retained 50%

Ahh that makes more sense

 

[Ozmodiar]

Well it will be a 3rd. Kaakhonen now being acquired by Jersey? lol.

Probably why NJ allowed the condition.

However, Hughes knows - shit happens.

 

[The Great Weal]

Getting a 2nd for Armia isn't a fact it's a fantasy.

Armia at 50% is definitely more valuable than Allen at 50%. Odd that you didn't bring up Savard.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

I've made it clear that the contract wasn't this disastrous move that will destroy the franchise. It's a minor hiccup and no GM is perfect. But yes that retention slot could have been used on Savard instead to potentially get a 1st or Armia to potentially get a 2nd. It's not even a complaint, it's pointing out the facts.

There are no facts there. the facts are that there were NO firsts available or Hughes would have gotten one. There was nothing else out there or Hughes wouldn't have used the retention spot on Allen. Armia is worthless. Better players didn't get moved.

 

[26Mats]

Armia at 50% is definitely more valuable than Allen at 50%. Odd that you didn't bring up Savard.

I think a good solid vet backup whose playing like Alken has in the past as a backup brings more to the team dynamic than a bottom sixer that is only on his game offensively once in a while. But Armia can be useful in sports in the playoffs, as we saw in our cup finals run.

 

[The Great Weal]

There are no facts there. the facts are that there were NO firsts available or Hughes would have gotten one. There was nothing else out there or Hughes wouldn't have used the retention spot on Allen. Armia is worthless. Better players didn't get moved.

And the future? How do you know using this retention slot on Savard in the future wouldn't have gotten us more than what Allen got. In fact he's a vastly superior player so of course he'd get more. Armia is has 11 goals in 47 games which is nearly 20 goals in 82 games. He's also very good on the PK. He's a better player than Allen who's a disaster this year, and at 50% he'd be worth more too. Just because a 1st/2nd wasn't available for Savard/Armia this deadline doesn't mean that it won't be in the future given that most teams prefer vets on expiring deals.

The fact is that Allen's contract sucks. Not sure why many here are willing to go so out of their way to say otherwise. It happens, not every contract works out, but Allen's contract is a very bad one which is why we had to retain 50% and not get anything worthwhile as a guarantee in return. There's nothing wrong with pointing this out. It doesn't mean that Hughes is bad at his job or that this is something that will haunt the franchise for decades.

 

[Scintillating10]

Crazy deadline. Too many trades to comphend. Glad it's over, now get season over with and onto draft. Hopefully we add scoring this summer

 

[Habssince89]

Resolving the goalie logjam is a huge W for KH today. Removing at least one bad contract is another. We could've seen some more deals go down but this off season I'm even more dead wood is moved.

Allen was a good soldier, who took the beatings with class. Glad we're moving on though.

It's nice to know Primeau will get more games now, and hopefully we can build him up to sell him off once Fowler is ready to backup Montembault

 

[BehindTheTimes]

The worst part is they traded for Allen, who has a .892 SV% in 21 GP.

But Schmid is .895 SV% in 19 games. Daws is .890 SV% in 19 games.

So in the end, they acquired a goalie who is not that much better than what they already have.

You can’t measure goalies in a vacuum like that.

 

[26Mats]

The worst part is they traded for Allen, who has a .892 SV% in 21 GP.

But Schmid is .895 SV% in 19 games. Daws is .890 SV% in 19 games.

So in the end, they acquired a goalie who is not that much better than what they already have.

You can’t measure goalies in a vacuum like that.

Ultimately it sounds like Brodeur was high on Allen from their days of being teammates. We'll see how Brodeaur's read is on the current version of Allen being what they're looking for. I don't think it will go well. But we've seen quick have a good year this year after some down years. So we'll see.