New Jersey Devils 2026-27 Player Projections: Jake Allen

2025-26 Performance
2026-27 Expectations
Upcoming Milestones
Projections for 2026-27
Other Projections

The New Jersey Devils are facing a ton of pressure heading into the 2026-27 season. They have a strong team, but last season, they crumbled and missed the postseason after a solid start. The Devils are determined to not let that happen again.

Each player has a role to fill, and as the season begins, we can try to predict how each player will perform as we continue our Devils’ player projections with goaltending. Next up is Jake Allen.

2025-26 Performance

Allen played 37 games last season, finishing with a 17-17-2 record. He only recorded one shutout, keeping the Buffalo Sabres at bay on Nov. 28, while the Devils scored five goals against Alex Lyon.

Jake Allen New Jersey Devils Curtis Lazar Edmonton Oilers — New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen makes a save on Edmonton Oilers forward Curtis Lazar (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Allen made his season debut on Oct. 13 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He made an incredible 23 saves off of 24 shots in the first 40 minutes of regulation play. However, he didn’t get to finish the game due to cramping. Jacob Markstrom entered the crease to finish out the last 20 minutes, helping the Devils get the win.

This was Allen’s second full season with the Devils, after being traded to the team near the end of 2023-24 by the Montreal Canadiens. Playing in tandem with Markstrom, he had to step up when Markstrom was injured and played more games last season than he did in 2023-24, playing 34 games, and in 2024-25, where he played 31.

2026-27 Expectations

Allen is expected to be the starting goaltender after the Devils traded Markstrom to the Florida Panthers this summer. In exchange, New Jersey received forwards Jesper Boqvist, Ben Steeves, and Evan Rodrigues.

The Devils still have Nico Daws, who has played a few NHL games but has spent most of his career with the team’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Utica Comets. New Jersey also signed David Rittich as a free agent, but placed him on waivers during training camp to assign him to the Comets.

Instead of Rittich, management picked up Remi Poirier from the Dallas Stars to be the team’s third goalie. Although Poirier has no NHL experience, he made the opening-night roster. With such limited goaltending experience, the Devils are leaning toward a younger core in net and need a strong goaltender to mentor these two and hold down the starter’s job while they continue their development; enter Allen. He will face a lot of pressure this season, but it is nothing he can’t handle.

Upcoming Milestones

Allen has played 497 NHL games, meaning he is three shy of his 500th NHL game, a milestone he will reach early in the campaign. He is ranked 85th in the all-time games-played list among NHL goalies, and he could hit the 500 mark as early as Tuesday, Oct. 6, when the Devils host the Utah Mammoth at the Prudential Center – if he starts all three games to open the season.

Projections for 2026-27

My bold prediction for Allen is that he will remain the Devils’ starter throughout the campaign, especially with two young goalies backing him up. While the Devils clearly believe in Daws and Poirier, they need a solid, experienced goaltender to ensure they start winning early.

Of course, the Devils already sent Rittich down to the AHL; there’s always the chance they will send either Daws or Poirier down to Utica as well. However, Allen will remain the starting goaltender for the Devils throughout the entirety of the 2026-27 season.