Observations:

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October 2014 – Allen has started the 2014-15 campaign as the Blues’ backup goaltender with Brian Elliott getting the team’s first two starts. Eric Daoust

April 2014 – Blues’ GM Doug Armstrong confirmed that Allen will be up with the Blues next year. Eric Daoust

April 2014 – The only prize left outside the NHL for Allen to get a hold of is an AHL Calder Cup, something he and the Chicago Wolves are poised to take a run at. He has recently been named the First Team All-Star goalie and has now received the ‘Baz Bastien’ trophy winner as the top goaltender in the AHL. In case you haven’t been watching, Allen leads the league in: wins, shutouts, minutes, GAA and SV%. There is no conceivable way Allen is back in the AHL next season and to help matters, he will be on a one-way contract worth a mere $800,000. The Blues will have to decide in the off season if they feel he will be the starter or a backup, and will need to sign someone to pair with him. He is long gone in dynasty/keeper formats, that boat sailed a few years ago. If Ryan Miller or another starter is not signed early in the offseason, single season managers may wish to draft him amongst the upper tier goaltenders, just below Lundqvist, Quick, Smith and few others. You will be taking a gamble on him, but the team will give him wins and opportunities for shutouts, it will be up to him to make the saves and the GAA and SV% will fall inline reasonably well. Jason Banks

November 2013 – Allen has started the season on a strong note with a 6-3-1 record, a 2.29 GAA and a .928 save percentage with Chicago of the AHL. The save percentage number is especially important considering his total last year in the minors was .904. He is progressing well and should be ready for his promotion to full-time NHL duty next fall or sooner. Eric Daoust

September 2013 – Allen will start the 2013-14 season with Chicago of the AHL. He could find his way back in St. Louis this year if Jaroslav Halak or Brian Elliott are injured or suffer from inconsistency. Eric Daoust

July 2013 – Allen re-signed with the Blues for two years. The first year is a two-way contract and the second year is one-way. It is worth noting that both Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott become unrestricted free agents after this year. Expect the Blues to keep one goalie and bring in Allen as the backup for 2014-15. Eric Daoust

March 2013 – Jake Allen has been returned to the AHL finishing his NHL stint with eight wins and three losses. His GAA wasn’t the best at 2.45 and his save percentage was average at best finishing out with a .906 on the year. Although Allen had a winning record, two abysmal games back to back in March were enough to scare the Blues into going back to Jaroslav Halak. Allen outplayed Halak for most of March, but Halak looks to be back in the driver’s seat for St. Louis as his play has improved. Allen will be back in the NHL soon enough, be it this season because of play or injury or next season as a back up. Allen is a RFA this summer so it will be interesting to see what decision the Blues make on his status moving forward. Andrew Ward

March 2013 – Mid-way through December, Allen started to turn a corner in the AHL. After starting the season with a .895 SV%, he jumped up to a much more respectable .915 in his last 18 appearances for Peoria. That upgrade in play made the Blues confidant that he was able to be recalled and was ready to see a couple starts. He has started his NHL career with a solid five wins and only a single loss. His .891 SV% is a little concerning for ‘poolies’, but keep in mind St. Louis has a pretty solid defensive system and they have protected Allen quite well by only allowing an average of 27.5 shots per game. He is currently on schedule with his development, but is not quite ready for the fulltime backup job yet. If you are looking for a goalie prospect and can be patient, now would be a good time to buy if you can get him cheap otherwise wait until he is assigned back to the AHL for another stint. Jason Banks

March 2013 – Jake Allen was again given the call up on March 7 despite both Halak and Elliott being healthy. Allen seems to have the winning touch as his record reflects, going 6-1-0 on the year. Allen doesn’t have the shiniest save percentage or goals against average but the boys from St Louis seem to be playing well in front of him. Allen lets in a soft goal here and there but overall his save percentage is improving as he gets more comfortable with more consistent starts. Allen is filling the net better and better every game, and the most important aspect of Allen’s game is his anticipation for huge plays and uncanny ability to stop the puck when he absolutely has to, allowing his team to stay in the game. Grab Jake Allen and ride his hot streak while you can. Andrew Ward

October 2012 – Allen is a high risk, high reward goaltender for the Blues. Was the Goalie of the year, during his final year in the Quebec Junior League, an honor that helped thrust expectations of him into super-stardom. He had a superb transition to pro, much of which can be attributed to a strong collection of prospects compiled by St. Louis in front of him. Much like his former Peoria partner Ben Bishop, Allen is a rather large goalie, who ‘oozes’ a presence in the net and reflects confidence outwards. He is strong at most technical aspects of the position, but gets easily pushed off his game and struggles in streaks. Last year many flags were waved, early and often. It took eight starts in two months for him get into form, mostly playing out of conference games and not proving to be any threat to Bishop. After returning from a very forgettable Spengler Cup experience, Allen was solid and looked capable to take more crease time in Peoria, the Blues then decided to move Bishop to the Senators and let Allen run with the starting job. All seemed well until the end of the playoff race, Peoria once in a great place with Bishop, faltered with Allen, eventually being overtaken by several teams and knocked out of the playoffs on the back of Allen only winning two of the final nine games. Allen had then cracked for Team Canada and now Peoria. This season, Allen has to shake off last campaign’s finish and vault himself back to the throne in Peoria and continue to push forward showing capability to move to the NHL level. In the first weekend of the AHL season, Allen has started to struggle again. Jason Banks

Fantasy Outlook: A

Has a strong outlook to become a solid fantasy goalie at the top level. Should be in the NHL next fall baring an ‘Act of God’.

Footage:

Saves don’t get any better than this…

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Allen discusses and works on mental toughness for his development.

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Buy the latest Fantasy Prospects Report here.

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