When the New Jersey Devils acquired Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames on June 19th, the excitement and hope were already there. Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald promised to go "Big Game Hunting" for a top netminder, and through much patience and work, he got his man. Fast-forward to today, and even though it's just one game, the Sweden native is already positioning himself to have a very big year in the Garden State.
Markstrom has given the Devils the key ingredient to a championship quest and that is a true #1 man between the pipes who is a workhorse. He's a big guy who plays an aggressive style in the net. While there is risk with playing that way, more often than not Markstrom has made the big time save when needed. A great example of this is his unreal stop on Buffalo's Nicolas Aube-Kubel late in the first period of the Devils' 3-1 win in Game of the Global Series this past Friday.
JACOB MARKSTROM ARE YOU SERIOUS pic.twitter.com/BVBUWqN35U
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 4, 2024
The difference between winning and losing most games comes from whether or not your goalie can make the timely save. This behind-the-back stick save from Markstrom is an immediate and perfect example of what the Devils can expect from the 34-year-old throughout the season. They will especially need those types of saves once they are in the postseason.
From the opening puck drop, Markstrom's impact was felt up and down the lineup. Those early saves eventually led to the Devils jumping out to a 3-0 lead late into the third before Owen Power finally got one for Buffalo, ruining a potential first-game shutout for the Devils' star goaltender. One thing that was mentioned a lot about what made Markstrom a talented player was his success when it came to high-danger chances.
In 2023-24, he led the NHL in high-danger save percentage per NHL Edge stats at (.857) and was tied for fifth in high-danger saves (359). In the win last Friday, Markstrom was able to deny several more of those high-danger chances while finishing the game with 2.49 goals above expected per Moneypuck. It's clear that Markstrom's skills make the Devils that much more of a dangerous team.
One other positive for Markstrom is the team he has in front of him. From a talent standpoint, it's fair to say that he hasn't been with a team this loaded in his entire career. Guys like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, and Dawson Mercer provide elite speed and a scoring clip only matched by a handful of teams in the league. The defense is also very talented with Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegentahler, Brett Pesce, Luke Hughes when healthy, Brendan Dillion, and even Johnathan Kovacevic.
Add to that with Sheldon Keefe's system and you have as close to a complete team as you can get if you're a top-level goalie. Again, it is only one game, but Fitzgerald is already getting back a lot of good on his investment in Markstrom. If he can keep this up, it would not surprise me if we are watching Devils hockey well into May and even June.