The New Jersey Devils have been far from perfect in the absence of injured franchise forward Jack Hughes, which means that everyone needs to pull their weight, and perhaps a little extra, for the team to succeed, or even tread water, until conditions improve.
At this point, it is safe to say struggling big-money goalie Jacob Markstrom has not fulfilled his end of the bargain, and that is coming off getting a two-year, $12 million ($6 million AAV) contract extension handed to him on Halloween.
Markstrom, 35, started for the Devils against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, only to put up another dreadful performance in what ended up being an 8-4 loss. The Swede surrendered three goals on just seven shots in 7:56 of ice time, getting beaten by the likes of Nick Paul, Darren Raddysh, and Pontus Holmberg, respectively.
As the ice time and stat line indicates, yes, Markstrom was pulled for Jake Allen, who came in and allowed five goals on 28 shots, not faring all that much better. But, had Markstrom not allowed the first three, the Devils would have went into the second period tied 1-1 with a depleted Lightning squad.
Overall, Markstrom allowed 2.63 goals above expected, according to Moneypuck, and dropped down to 8-6-1 on the year with a porous 3.66 GAA and .875 save percentage - the worst he's played since becoming a full-time NHLer a decade ago.
And, speaking of bests and worsts, if we go by the goals saved above expected metric, Markstrom's cumulative -4.4 ranks seventh-worst in the NHL, ahead of only Anthony Stolarz, Justus Annunen, Sam Montembeault, Cayden Primeau, Jordan Binnington, and Linus Ullmark.
The Devils' starting goalie does deserve credit for facing the reporters after the loss to the Lightning, fielding questions on his health and performance so far this season.
Jacob Markstrom gets a little testy with the reporters after being pulled from the game after giving up 3 goals in the first 8 minutes.
— Devils Fanatics (@devilsfanatics) December 12, 2025
You can tell he's frustrated. pic.twitter.com/P2MknZ3YLy
When asked if he was 100%, Markstrom replied with a question of his own. "I guess I'm playing bad... is that what you mean?" he said calmly.
And when asked to assess his performance this season? "Not good enough, you?" prompting the reporter to answer with his own assessment.
Markstrom is already known for his fiery personality, and an experienced veteran like him is self-aware and knows when he's playing well or not so well.
Of course, the Devils can appreciate the netminder sticking up for himself in a respectful way during his postgame media availability, but, at some point, that needs to translate to the playing surface as well.
The Devils made too great an investment in Markstrom too recently for things to immediately go south. Markstrom's fighting spirit is clearly still there, which is a good sign, but now his body and the Devils as a team need to cooperate to get this train back on the tracks, and in a hurry.