Jake Allen
Age: 35 Position: Goalie
Statistics: 0.903 save percentage, 22.2 goals saved above expected (37 games)
Contract: five years, $1.8 million (four years remaining)
Grade: B
2025-26 Review
A lot was made of the New Jersey Devils’ goaltending this season. In the shadows of Jacob Markström‘s struggles was another solid year from 35-year-old Jake Allen.
In his third season with the organization, Allen played in 37 games (36 starts) with a 0.903 save percentage. He went 17-17-2 and posted a single shutout. Importantly, Allen stopped 22.2 goals above expected (GSAx). The 22.2 GSAx figure ranked 19th among 91 goaltenders. He performed better in that statistic, which attempts to isolate goaltender play from its surroundings, than Mackenzie Blackwood, Jesper Wallstedt, Akira Schmid, Juuse Saros, among several others.
Allen’s save percentage of 0.903, not flashy on paper, was still above the league average of 0.896. That figure is the lowest average league-wide since 1993-94.
A notable aspect of Allen’s game this season is he was very strong against shots from the outside. Among 72 goalies that played at least 500 minutes of total ice time, Allen’s average goals against distance of 17.37 was the second-lowest in the league. He was also respectable on high-danger shot attempts, owning the 40th-best save percentage on those opportunities (among 72 qualified).
It was overall another successful year for the veteran who forecasts to play a big part for the team going forward.
2026-27 Outlook
Jake Allen is in New Jersey for the long haul, pending a trade. He owns an extremely favorable $1.8 million cap hit over the next four years. By the end of the contract, Allen will be 39 years old.
Since coming to New Jersey, Allen has been everything the team could have asked for. He has stopped a staggering 43.18 goals above expected across 81 games. That figure ranks 13th among all goaltenders since he joined the organization.
With Allen’s performance still so strong, the fact he is locked in at such a favorable price tag, and the youth that makes up the Devils’ organizational goalie pipeline is not quite there, Allen is a perfect compliment to another member in a goaltending duo on any team. Goalies usually have a longer age curves as well.
The above statistics are courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and Evolving Hockey.