For weeks leading up to the NHL trade deadline it seemed as though Calgary net minder Jacob Markstrom would be dealt, only for talks to ultimately fall through. Fast forward a few months later, and at least one club has circled back to inquire about Markstrom’s availability once more.
Recent reports indicate that the New Jersey Devils have reignited talks about a potential swap to acquire the 34 year old this offseason, and apparently they aren’t the only club to kick the tires on him of late.
Pierre LeBrun recently revealed that “Those conversations with the Flames have taken up again. We know that those two teams almost had a deal done before the trade deadline earlier this season before March 8. It fell apart, but the Devils remain interested in Jacob Markstrom and as importantly, Jacob Markstrom has a full no-move, but my understanding is he’s willing to go to New Jersey.”
“There are other teams now that weren’t there on Markstrom before the trade deadline that have now entered the picture. The Flames are getting calls from multiple teams on Markstrom, not just from the Devils… At this point in time, there’s still a difference of opinion on the return, on what it should cost the Devils to get Jacob Markstrom out of Calgary and the Flames are willing to be patient in terms of having a team meet their price.”
Across 48 games with Calgary in 2023-24, the Swedish goaltender went 23-23-2 with a .905 SV% and 2.78 GAA. While trade talks were rumoured to have progressed significantly in the spring, ultimately Calgary’s unwillingness to retain salary in a potential deal caused negotiations to crater at the 11th hour.
New Jersey wound up pivoting in their search for help between the pipes, acquiring Jake Allen from Montreal, and Kaapo Kahkonen from San Jose, while shipping out Vitek Vanecek. Those moves did little to help the Devils down the stretch as poor play in net, coupled with injuries left the Devils on the outside looking in when it came time for the playoffs.
Markstrom now enters the 5th season of a 6 year, $36M deal which sports an AAV of $6M against the cap. His public comments about the organization’s handling of trade talks in the spring, coupled with New Jersey’s willingness to trade draft picks for immediate help in goal were seemingly enough for the two sides to come back to the bargaining table to resume discussions.
“If we feel it helps us now and in the foreseeable future, then, yes, I’m listening,” New Jersey general manager Tom Fitzgerald told reporters on Monday. “I haven’t gotten anything yet but the more I talk to teams, I say ‘Listen, I’m open to moving No. 10, but it’s going to have to be something [significant].”
“At the end of the day, we’re in a position now versus two years ago when we drafted Simon Nemec where if we can find the right piece to help us get to where we want to go today, tomorrow and wherever the controllable future is for that player, great,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s the mindset versus ‘Great, we have a top-10 pick and this kid is going to be fantastic when he’s 25 years old’.”
With the addition of Sheldon Keefe behind the bench, and a full offseason for the team’s injury riddled roster to return to health, expectations for the Devils are sky-high in New Jersey heading into 2024-25.
“This has got to be that season where we take that step, year in, year out, to consistently be banging on the door,” Fitzgerald continued. “It has to be. Everybody, including myself, the players, staff, we’ve got to look in the mirror and say, ‘What’s going on here?’ I think you’re going to see a very motivated group.”
While Markstrom appears to be at the top of the list for the Devils at the moment, it certainly doesn’t appear as though the club is putting all their eggs into one basket at the moment. Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark, and Anaheim Ducks net minder John Gibson have both been linked to New Jersey in recent days as well.
Photo: Daniel. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.