- Jake Allen says a three-goalie tandem can work as long as everyone knows exactly where they stand
- He lived through the crunch in his final year in Montreal and admits he did not love it
- Read below for Allen’s full breakdown and where he fits in New Jersey’s crowded crease
Jake Allen has been stuck in a three-goalie logjam before. He is the first to admit it was not much fun.
Speaking on Daily Faceoff Live last week, he broke down the pros and cons of carrying three goalies, a setup slowly taking over the NHL. His verdict was simple. It can work, but only if the room is honest about it.
Allen was asked how a team keeps a three-goalie group from turning sour.
“The way you need to do it is you got to be able to just manage it properly from the goalie coach to the head coach to the goalies, and also have a common understanding that this is for the benefit of the group. As long as there’s a clear line of communication and understanding and you know where everyone stands, I think that’s the biggest thing.”
Watch Allen lay it all out on Daily Faceoff Live:
He is speaking from a place he knows well. In his final season in Montreal, Allen shared the net with Sam Montembeault while the Canadiens hung onto Cayden Primeau instead of sending him down.
“Personally I didn’t really like it, just because you feel on the outs,” Allen said. “You’re sitting there, you got three, and you’re like ‘Man, am I ever going to play? Is my next game in two weeks? Is it in three weeks?’”
Even so, Allen gets why front offices keep leaning this way. He called himself a realist about where the game is headed.
“Everyone needs three good goalies and I’m a realist,” he said. “I’d love to be in the net all the time, but if I’m running a hockey team, you got to have three good goalies nowadays.”
New Jersey is not dealing with a hypothetical. The Devils shipped Jacob Markstrom to Florida this offseason and now run Allen, Nico Daws and free-agent pickup David Rittich, a trio carrying a combined cap hit around $3.9 million. That is roughly $2.1 million less than Markstrom made on his own. Allen walks in as the likely No. 1.
The blueprint is fresh. Carolina just won the Stanley Cup rolling three goalies, with rookie Brandon Bussi grabbing the bulk of the starts and Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov behind him. Buffalo made the playoffs doing the same thing. Edmonton and Montreal are both eyeing their own versions this year.
In his mind, the trade-off is worth it. Carry the extra goalie, eat the roster spot, and a fresh rotation banks more points by the end of the year. New Jersey is betting he is right.
