The New Jersey Devils are entrenched in a playoff race, but they showed with an extension for Johnathan Kovacevic on NHL Trade Deadline day that they aren't above thinking about the future. Kovacevic absolutely deserved his extension after a really good first season in New Jersey, but he isn't the only great player who has no contract after this season.
Most of the Devils' future unrestricted free agents are either looking at close-to-minimum contracts, or they are likely going to play elsewhere. We could see the likes of Tomas Tatar returning, but he would probably do it for about $1 million. However, one player that's going to get a raise is Jake Allen.
The Devils traded for Allen last year at the NHL Trade Deadline. It was a strange move that seemed somewhat desperate, but it's become one of Fitzgerald's best moves. Allen, who originally declined a move to NJ, has solidified a position that has been in flux since Cory Schneider's injuries caused him to become one of the worst goalies in the NHL. He joined Jacob Markstrom as one of the best tandems in hockey.
Allen stepped up in a big way on multiple occasions this season. When Markstrom was ramping up with his new team, Allen was a calming influence when he was in net. Ignoring one strange performance where he gave up eight goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he was dominant in October and November. He actually finished with a .930 save percentage in November.
Markstrom got hot in December, and Allen took a back seat. Then, when Markstrom hurt his knee after a collision in Boston, Allen stepped up again. He was just as good as Markstrom at his best for the six weeks he was out. He and Nico Daws held down the fort in a big way and kept the Devils in games despite their offense disappearing.
Markstrom is back into the fold, but he's struggled since returning, so Allen is once again being asked to step up. He has stopped 99 shots out of 103 over three games in March. This includes stopping 23 shots in the third period on Monday's win against the Blue Jackets.
Those types of performances is why Allen isn't going to re-sign in New Jersey. The Devils just can't afford him with everything they need to do this offseason.
Jake Allen is going to be too expensive for the New Jersey Devils
According to Puck Pedia, the Devils have around $14 million in projected cap space next season. With that, they have to re-sign Luke Hughes. At the very least, that's taking up $8 million of that. We expect it to be even more, but let's call it a "best-case" scenario. That leaves the Devils with $5 million to sign an entire bottom six (Tatar, Nathan Bastian, Curtis Lazar, Daniel Sprong, and Justin Dowling are all UFAs). Bottom-six forwards aren't terribly expensive, but upgrades there cost more than $1 million.
On top of all this, it's clear the Devils need another top-six forward. The Devils spent so much on defense this past offseason, but now there's no money for the other side of the ice. Even if they trade a contract like Ondrej Palat or Erik Haula, that money will be used for offensive upgrades.
Unless Allen thinks it makes sense to re-sign with the Devils for a year or two at $2.5 million per season or less, they can't afford him. He should easily be able to get $4+ million in free agency. His numbers are crazy, and he might be the Devils' playoff goalie with the way he's playing. Unfortunately, this is probably the last season Allen plays in Jersey.