Jake Allen did not hold back this week about the three-goalie mess he survived with the Montreal Canadiens.
On a recent podcast appearance, the Devils goaltender admitted he never liked splitting the crease with Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau.
"We thought Cayden was going to be going down, and they just kept us around," Allen said. "Personally I didn't really like it, just because you feel on the outs."
Montreal shipped Allen to New Jersey during that 2023-24 season for a conditional 2025 third-round pick, retaining half his salary.
He left the Canadiens with a 3.65 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage, numbers that improved once he got out of Montreal.
This season, Allen has started 37 games for the Devils, posting a .903 save percentage with one shutout.
David Rittich has soaked up 30 appearances behind him at a .894 mark, which tells you New Jersey still isn't leaning on one clear starter either.
Devils lean on Jake Allen while Daws barely sees the crease
Nicolas Daws has managed just three games this season, putting up a .907 save percentage in what amounts to mop-up duty.
Meanwhile in Montreal, the exact problem Allen escaped never actually went away.
Jakub Dobes leads the group with 43 appearances and a .901 save percentage, Samuel Montembeault sits at 25 games and .873, and Jacob Fowler has carved out 17 outings with a .908 mark.
That's basically the same math that pushed Allen out the door two years ago, just with different names on the pads.
And here's the thing. All three, Dobes, Fowler and Montembeault, are still under contract heading into next season.
Kent Hughes solved his last goalie logjam by trading it away. Solving this one might require doing the exact same thing again.
Comparing three goalies competing for one net to three people sharing one bed, somebody's always going to wake up cold and annoyed.
Montreal's crease rotation followed the team through a long playoff run that included series against Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Carolina.
Martin St-Louis never settled on a clear number one through any of it, and that ambiguity is exactly what Allen says wears a goalie down.
Is Montreal actually going to fix this before training camp, or run it back one more time and hope somebody separates?
That's the question hanging over the Canadiens all summer, and Allen's comments just made it a lot louder.
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Should the Canadiens trade one of Dobes, Fowler or Montembeault this off-season?
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