New Jersey Devils Vice President Martin Brodeur Makes a Shocking Statement on the Jake Allen Trade: The Deal Nearly Never Happened at All
To the surprise of many observers, Kent Hughes pulled off a frankly impressive feat at the trade deadline.
Indeed, although goaltender Jake Allen had very disappointing performances, having only accumulated six wins in 21 games, the GM of the Canadiens managed to find him a new team, while also acquiring a conditional third-round pick in exchange.
In a recent interview with Jean-Charles Lajoie on TVA Sports, Martin Brodeur made a significant statement regarding the 33-year-old veteran. Indeed, the Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Devils confirmed that Jake Allen had been on the American organization's radar for quite some time.
However, the former star goaltender indicated that the team had to work very hard to convince number 34 to join New Jersey. According to information reported by Martin Brodeur, the Devils were on the list of 7 teams where Jake Allen did not wish to be traded.
Naturally, this situation greatly complicated the negotiations between the two teams, which delayed the acquisition of the goaltender. Ultimately, General Manager Tom Fitzgerald succeeded in persuading Jake Allen and his family to join the Devils.
"We had been interested in Jake for a long time. What was blocking us was his salary. We couldn't afford it with the plan we have for next year. We want to go after another goaltender during the summer. We needed Jake's salary to be retained. It took time to make this trade with the Canadiens.
During the season, we had a lot of discussions with the Canadiens. Tom Fitzgerald and Kent Hughes talked a lot about this file. The trade was able to be made just before the deadline.
Jake also had to agree to come to New Jersey. We had to sell him our pitch a bit. It's more difficult to make trades when players have restrictions in their contract as was the case with Jake. We are happy to have been able to convince him to come here." - Martin Brodeur
Wow! We thus learn that a trade between the Montreal Canadiens and the New Jersey Devils could have happened much earlier this year if Jake Allen had not had a no-trade clause in his contract.
In the end, the Canadiens kept a three-goalie situation for a few additional weeks, but the organization ensured it got a very interesting return, especially when considering the value the goalie held on the trade market.
Moreover, Jake Allen joined an organization that clearly has a lot of confidence in him. We are very happy to see him join a team that seems to want to give him a significant role for the next season.
Earning a salary of 3.85 million dollars (with the Canadiens retaining 50%) until the end of the next season, Jake Allen struggled a lot in 2023-2024, accumulating a 6-12-3 record in 21 games. He also recorded discouraging statistics with a goals-against average of 3.65 and a save percentage of .892.
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