Can the Devils acquire a new starter?
The New Jersey Devils acquired two goaltenders on Trade Deadline day, beginning by acquiring Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens for a conditional 2025 third round draft pick.
Allen is 6-12-3 this season with a .892 save percentage but has been a reliable goaltender in the past.
The Canadiens retained 50% of Allen's contract. The condition on the pick is if Allen plays 40 games for New Jersey in 2024-25 and the Devils make the playoffs then the pick becomes a 2025 second rounder.
Given the Devils desperation for a goalie we wanted to see if the deal worked in NHL 24 Franchise Mode.
In NHL 24 the Canadiens were totally unwilling to eat salary on Allen and would not deal him to New Jersey. We also attempted the trade with the 2025 second round pick but that too was denied.
NHL 24 clearly values both Allen and cap space very highly and needed more for the trade to go through.
The real life Canadiens did Allen a solid by sending him to a team on the edge of the playoffs, but the game did not feel as generous.