St. Louis Blues: Jake Allen
Contract: Three years left, $4.35 million cap hit, $13.55 million total salary remaining.
The St. Louis Blues are in pretty good shape as far as their contracts. They have a few huge contracts, but they belong to the right guys. Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly are paid appropriately. You could argue Tyler Bozak is overpaid, but $5 million a year over three years isn’t that bad. So the Blues worst contract belongs to none other than goaltender Jake Allen.
The issue with him is they’re paying him $4.35 million a year to be their starting goaltender. Allen hasn’t done nearly enough to prove he should actually be a starting goalie. He was great in 2015-16, posting a .920 save percentage in 47 appearances (44 starts).
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However, since then, Allen has been trending the wrong way – downwards. He posted a .915 save percentage in 60 games in 2016-17. Last season, Allen had his worst full season as a professional with a .906 save percentage. That was his lowest since his rookie season (2012-13), during which he only appeared in 15 games.
Allen’s deal isn’t horrible for a goaltender. But he’s been a significant issue for the Blues as of late. St. Louis paid him to be their long-term starter and he was outperformed significantly by Carter Hutton last season.