For years, the New Jersey Devils were holding on for dear life as their goaltending did not live up to its name value. The Devils have been chasing positive goalie contributions since Cory Schneider's injuries ended his productive hockey career. They've had a few glimpses, like with Mackenzie Blackwood, Vitek Vanecek, and Jonathan Bernier, but a disaster was always waiting. Either those players got injured themselves, or they became completely unplayable.
When the Devils traded a first-round pick and Kevin Bahl to the Calgary Flames last year, it was the move that was expected to fix the Devils' goaltending for good. Well, at least for two years. Markstrom joined Jake Allen, who the Devils traded for at last year's trade deadline. This was the best one-two punch the Devils had since the preseason when they had a young Blackwood and Corey Crawford.
Allen is a free agent this offseason, and he's widely treated as the best goalie free agent in hockey this year. It seems unlikely the Devils will be able to afford the price Allen gets on the market. The Devils have Nico Daws signed to a one-way deal next season, and he played really well in the NHL when called upon, but some have feelings about going with Daws for so many games with Markstrom aging and coming off a knee injury this season.
The Devils could skim the market for a cheaper backup option in free agency, but don't discount the value of the trade market. One option that's being discussed by analysts is an interesting one, even if his salary has many running from it.
Matt Larkin at Daily Faceoff was looking over the teams who could trade for John Gibson, and he mentioned the Devils. He talks about how the Flames are retaining salary on Markstrom, so they have room to fit a more expensive backup option. We don't see any way they would pay Gibson's entire $6.4 millon cap hit, but could they take him at 50% retained, or if they get another team involved, even more?
Does John Gibson finally make sense for the New Jersey Devils?
Gibson has two years left on his deal, and he's just 31 years old. On paper, he should be effective for a minimum of five years. If the Devils go get Gibson, if would help bridge the gap between Markstrom and Mikhail Yegorov, if he ends up being the future starter.
Many have tied Gibson to the Devils, but it never made sense. He was too much of a liability in net for the Ducks, but he had a huge bounce-back year. In 2023-24, he had a .912 save percentage while serving as a true backup. The Ducks are motivated to finally move him now that his numbers have normalized, but does a trade between the Ducks and Devils make sense?
It still doesn't make sense. Gibson is making too much money for the Devils to make this trade. We don't think the Ducks would want to take on half his salary without a significant asset coming back, and that trade is losing value for the Devils quickly. They don't need Gibson and can find a decent backup in free agency to pair with Daws behind Markstrom.
This would be an interesting move, but the timing and the fact that the Devils have just $12 million in cap space (something Larkin mentions in his piece) make this an impossible deal to work out. The Devils would take it with a third team taking on salary, but then the assets become too valuable. If anything, the Devils will just hope for a buyout, which seems unlikely after Gibson's positive stat line.