With NHL players set to play in the Olympic games in Milan in February for the first time since 2014, the NHL has played this season on an adjusted schedule.

New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen is feeling the effects of the condensed calendar.

Allen joined First Up on TSN1050 on Monday morning to discuss the season he’s had, his expectations moving forward and the dating rumours swirling around a teammate.

“This is definitely the toughest season that I’ve experienced,” Allen said of the additional games on the schedule. “I don’t necessarily mean for myself, I’m just speaking for talking to guys on our team, throughout the league, buddies that have played and are retired now going ‘Holy cow, I can’t believe this is going on.’”

Including the Christmas break earlier in December, the Devils have had more than a day between games just eight times through the first two-and-a-half months of the season.

In the 2023-24 season, the devils played their 35th game on Dec. 30. This season, they will play their 39th game on that same date when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

“That’s the reality of the game that we’re in right now, and every team’s going through it,” Allen said.

“It’s a chance for those special players that play in the Olympics – and I think it’s super important for our game – but I think it’s going to be a wild experience when we all come back next year and feel like the season might be a little bit of a… not a breeze, but just have a chance to breathe and reset.”

The Devils have already dealt with injury problems this year, as only nine players have suited up in all 38 games to this point. Prominent players including forward Jack Hughes (hand injury) and defenceman Simon Nemec (lower-body injury) have missed time, which has helped contribute to a slower start for the team (20-16-2).

“It’s just as much mental as it is physical and obviously we’ve seen some of the injuries throughout the league,” Allen said. “Obviously with us, the Devils, we were banged up there for two or three months, but in reality all the teams are. You need guys to step up. But trust me, those two weeks off for the guys that aren’t playing [in the Olympics] are going to be really appreciated.”

Playing against the Maple Leafs and looking forward

The Devils take aim at the Maple Leafs in an Eastern Conference battle on Tuesday, where Allen gets a chance to battle a team he’s very familiar with that is also stuck in the traffic jam that is the Eastern Conference standings as the New Year approaches.

“I’ve played against them so much, obviously being in Montreal and the Devils the last few years,” Allen said. “They haven’t had the record that they wanted to this year, but they still have a great lineup and you can’t eliminate those three stars they have on their team in [forwards] Auston [Matthews], Willy [Nylander] and John [Tavares]. Every time you get those guys on the ice you’re a threat to win and they’ve been stringing some games together here recently and I think we’re going to have our hands full.”

The Devils have dropped three straight, and 10 of their past 14 games dating back to the end of November. A 5-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 28 pushed the Devils to the top of the Eastern Conference standings at 16-7-1, but with a 4-9-1 mark since, they have tumbled to a tie for eighth in the conference.

“We gotta find a new level here in New Jersey, we’re searching for a little bit of consistency and some better results here too so we’re going to have our hands full,” Allen said. “We gotta have a good practice here today, we had a tough loss the other night and [we gotta] get back to it against a good team. I know they’re trying to prove something here and so are we so it should be a good game tomorrow.”

The defining period of the season, in Allen’s mind, may end up being the games played out of the 20-day break for the Olympics in February.

“I really think it’s just going to come down to consistency before the Olympic break and then whoever can come out of that Olympic break [playing well],” said Allen. “Two weeks off is not easy, so coming out of that break, I think the teams that can keep their foot consistently on the gas to not have big peaks and valleys is going to be the one to find its way into the playoffs.

“You have to have an understanding of where your group’s at and your mindset behind what we’re doing, how we’re approaching, what your team’s trying to do to get to that next level. One win one night, one loss another night, you’re in the playoffs, you’re out of the playoffs, that’s how close it is, especially in the East.”

Allen coy on Hughes-McRae relationship

Rumours have been swirling around a potential relationship between Devils star forward Hughes and Canadian pop star Tate McRae since the two have been spotted in public together multiple times over the past two months.

Allen would not divulge any inside information to confirm or deny the rumours.

“It’s pretty low key right now, everyone’s seeing what’s out there but at the same time, if you know Jack, he’s a pretty quiet guy,” Allen said.

After First Up’s Carlo Colaiacovo prodded Allen about how the team is handling it and whether the players in the locker room are giving Hughes a hard time about it, he did concede that they’ve yet to allow the rumours to become a distraction.

“He’s definitely confident in himself but he’s also … We haven’t gone that route too much, but we’ll see where this goes,” Allen said. “Good for him, it’s pretty impressive, he’s got all the confidence in the world and that’s his own personal life so we’ll see where it goes, but you know how a locker room works.”