When Sunny Mehta took over the New Jersey Devils, there was a long to-do list. What seemed impossible was trying to figure out how to get out of the Jacob Markstrom situation. Since the Devils didn’t have anyone go to arbitration, Markstrom was not eligible for a buyout on his new $6 million per year contract. The only option was to trade Markstrom to a team that either wasn’t on his no-trade list or sit and deal with the situation.
Mehta called his former team to make the most significant move of his first month. He traded Markstrom to the Florida Panthers for Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist. The move was widely celebrated by Devils fans as a sign of things to come.
Not only did Mehta get the bottom-six upgrades Devils fans have been clamoring for, but he also got out of the full $6 million from Markstrom, freeing up cap space in the interim.
The Devils now had room to add even more to the forward group, acquiring Anthony Mantha and Luke Evangelista to solidify the top six. The Devils now look like a legitimately deep team thanks to this move. However, it came at a price.
The Devils are going into this season with Nico Daws, Jake Allen, and David Rittich in net. It’s basically three goalies in which the Devils are trying to find lightning in a bottle. It puts a lot of pressure on Daws to be something great, or it puts pressure on Allen to be a starter at 36 years old.
Some still say to this day that they think getting rid of Markstrom without a better backup plan or an interest in getting Connor Hellebuyck is a mistake that will hurt them in the season. Well, after Markstrom’s preseason re-debut with the Panthers, they might think differently.
On Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes, Markstrom misplayed a puck in his crease, gave it away to his opponent, then let Canes defenseman Dominik Badinka shoot the puck off his back and into the net.
The kids are out here making heads up plays pic.twitter.com/STNpUmFS0V
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) September 20, 2026
This was just six minutes into Markstrom’s debut, and it didn’t take long for Devils fans to be excited for what they had going on for them. Ironically, Rittich had his own blunder in their game against the Islanders on Sunday, where he skated out to the middle of the defensive zone only to misplay his clearing attempt, but the defense saved him from allowing a goal.
Markstrom was not good for the Devils last season. Many think he could bounce back, but this isn’t the proof those truth tellers were looking for. Markstrom might have just lost his fastball, and the Devils might have saved the primes of Jack Hughes and Nico HIschier by making the bold move to move on.
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