If the reports are true, it's finally happened. The New Jersey Devils are trading for Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom. The 34-year-old has been tied to the Devils since January, but reports say the Flames owner nixed a trade that had Markstrom waive his no-trade clause during the season. Now, it appears the Devils have agreed to a trade with the Flames.
Believe Calgary’s Jakob Markstrom is being traded to New Jersey.
— Travis Yost (@travisyost) June 19, 2024
This always felt like the most likely option. While we heard other names like the Nashville Predators Juuse Saros and Boston Bruins Linus Ullmark, the fact that the Devils have already made a deal in principle and Markstrom already waived his no-trade clause felt like this was inevitable.
We now know the Devils gave up 23-year-old defenseman Kevin Bahl and a protected 2025 first-round pick. It sounds like a pretty good return for Calgary, but then we learn about the retention. The Flames retained a little over 30% of the contract, leaving the Devils with just a $4.125 million cap hit for the next two seasons.
The Devils goaltending situation has been awful for basically a decade. If it wasn't Cory Schneider's injuries, it was Keith Kinkaid never finding lightning in a bottle again. If it wasn't Corey Crawford's retirement, it was the cavalcade of injuries that was 2021-22. Vitek Vanecek finally gave the Devils a decent goalie, but then he turned into the ugliest pumpkin we've ever seen on the ice. Then, there's the Mackenzie Blackwood debacle, but we don't need to get into that here.
Markstrom is older, and the Devils tandem with Jake Allen will be one of the oldest in the league, but they have Nico Daws and Akira Schmid who have NHL experience and are incredibly young. This was a good move because it puts the Devils back into the contention conversation, and it allows Daws and/or Schmid to develop gracefully.