Martin Brodeur reveals how the Jake Allen trade went down in details and you won't believe it

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Elias Edmonson
March 13, 2024 (1:47 PM)

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Last Friday, Kent Hughes pulled off a feat that few thought possible. He traded, despite his poor performance this season, Jake Allen, even fetching a conditional second-round pick.

In an interview with Jean-Charles Lajoie on TVA Sports, the Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Devils, Martin Brodeur, told us that not only has Allen been in his organization's plans for a long time, but they had to work hard to get him to agree to come with them.

According to Brodeur, Allen had a no-trade clause in his contract, and the Devils were among the 7 teams he did not want to be traded to. General Manager Tom Fitzgerald had to pitch his vision to convince Allen to move to New Jersey.

We have 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 acquire another goalie during the summer. It required retaining some of Jake's salary. It took time to make this transaction with the Canadiens. During the season, we had a lot of discussions with the Canadiens. Tom Fitzgerald and Kent Hughes talked a great deal about this case. The trade was able to happen just before the deadline. Jake also had to agree to come to New Jersey. We had to pitch him our vision 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 we were able to convince him to come here." - Martin Brodeur

Allen, 33, had a difficult season with the CH. He has a record of 6-12-3 in 21 games, with a goals-against average of 3.65 and a save percentage of .892. His contract, at $3.85M per year (50% retained by the CH), will end after the 2024-2025 season.

Via HF