Armchair Hockey Scout Beta

This is the 2025-26 edition — an archived read. Read the 2026-27 report →

34

Jake Allen

New Jersey Devils Goaltender

A .906 in 31 games at 34, and a backup who outplayed the man the club traded a first for.

SeasonTeamGPWLOTLGAGAASOSASV%
2012-13STL15940332.461346.905
2014-15STL372274792.284909.913
2015-16STL47261531012.3561260.920
2016-17STL61332051382.4241620.915
2017-18STL59272531522.7511614.906
2018-19STL46191781212.8331277.905
2019-20STL241263482.152655.927
2020-21MTL2911125762.680817.907
2021-22MTL3592041073.3021123.905
2022-23MTL42152431453.5511335.891
2023-24MTL/NJD34121841143.4401087.895
2024-25NJD3113161772.664819.906
2025-26 so far
Career4602081844311912.762812862.907

This Season So Far

The 2025-26 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.

Last Season

13-16-1 in 31 games, .906 with a 2.66 average and 4 shutouts on 819 shots.

A better save percentage than the starter and the same number of shutouts in two-thirds the games. 4 shutouts from a backup is a striking total.

The Physical Game

6-2 and 197, and the game is compact and technical. He is square, economical, and does not travel further than the puck requires, and the puck-handling is a genuine asset on a club that likes to break out cleanly.

The size is the limitation — he does not cover a net by standing in it, so a scramble is more dangerous against him. The rebound control is decent and the recovery is quick for his age.

The Mental Game

Fifteen seasons, four organisations, a starting job lost and regained more than once, and a temperament that has never visibly wavered.

He plays well cold, which is the actual skill in the job and the one most goaltenders never acquire.

The Intangibles

A second-round pick, a long career of being the more reliable half of somebody else’s tandem, and a contract extension signed at 34.

The projection is 30 games and a .905. New Jersey has two 35-year-old goaltenders with identical numbers and a first-round pick spent on the worse of them, which is the least resolved thing about an otherwise well-built roster.