St. Louis Blues: Jake Allen’s Days Might Be Numbered

The St. Louis Blues have quite a few decisions to make regarding their lineup. One of their options might be letting go of a certain goaltender.

The St. Louis Blues have made a good number of “offseason” moves during the shut down for the pandemic. Even though the season is not officially over, St. Louis has a good idea of what their 2020-21 lineup will look like.

One of the biggest questions remaining is that of Alex Pietrangelo. His contract will almost have to wait until the season actually ends or is canceled because the Blues have to know what the salary cap will be to know what they can offer him.

However, even knowing the salary cap will not be quite enough. Unless Pietrangelo is going to take a gigantic hometown discount, the Blues will probably have to move a player or two.

The most widely speculated options are to either buy out the final year of Alex Steen‘s contract or to trade Tyler Bozak for the final year of his.

Neither one would be unpalatable, but both come with issues. Getting rid of Steen seems a stab in the back so late in the game, after he’s spent so much time in St. Louis. You do save a little more money off the cap if that is the option though.

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Bozak is slightly younger than Steen, though not a young player. He main value comes on faceoffs and, like Ryan O’Reilly, he seems to fit with any wingers you pair him with. The problem there, as Jeremy Rutherford pointed out, the suitors for a 34-year old player at $5 million won’t be many.

From my point of view, sadly that means Jake Allen might be the most likely to be moved. Allen has the most value, a reasonably priced contract and, for a goaltender, is just now entering the prime of his career.

As an admitted fan of the Snake, it would pain me to see him go. While he has had his struggles when handed the reigns as a solo act, Allen has been one of the franchise’s best goaltenders when in a pair.

If he goes now, he will come within a whisker of crossing the Blues all-time wins total. He is also high on most goaltending categories for the team, despite the narrative of him not being that great.

A trade of Allen comes at a cost though, and I don’t mean money. Money would be the driving force behind trading Allen, so the reality is the Blues could not really ask for fair market value.

St. Louis can’t acquire an NHL ready player for Allen because that would defeat the purpose of shedding salary to use on a Pietrangelo contract. The best Doug Armstrong could do would be to acquire a prospect or a high draft pick. Those are unknowns, however, because we do not yet know what the market will be for goaltending until the season is officially over.

Teams can think they are set right now. A bad playoff run can doom whoever was previously in the net and make Allen more enticing. Or, the season could be canceled and Allen might end up with a team that had no shot at making the playoffs even if there was one.

That is the problem facing Doug Armstrong right now. You cannot really make calls right now because nobody knows what they need or what they can afford yet.

On top of that, you don’t want it leaking out that you’re looking to deal this player or that. It can hurt the player’s performance, if there is a resumption of the season, or it takes away bargaining power with other GMs.

Nevertheless, even as a huge fan of Jake Allen, it might be best that he goes. He deserves a shot at starting again and he’s not going to get that in St. Louis.

While Jordan Binnington still has to show he can sustain his play, he is clearly the starter. The Blues remain high on Ville Husso as well, thus Allen’s options with the team that drafted him seem small.

A minor move or two might need to happen in addition to an Allen trade. Still, his salary gone would free up a decent amount of money if the Blues attempt to keep their captain.