The silly season is here even as the 2024 Stanley Cup Final rolls on. One of the biggest rumors is the New Jersey Devils pursuit of a number one goalie—most notably Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames.
The New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames have been linked as trading partners for Markstrom since before the NHL Trade Deadline. Devils President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald and Flames General Manager Craig Conroy worked on a deal that would have sent goaltender Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey. In addition to draft picks, forward Alexander Holtz was one of the pieces involved. Not to mention, Markstrom was waiving his no-movement clause to go to New Jersey.
However, the deal was pulled back, and Markstrom stayed in Calgary for the season. When speaking with the media, Markstrom was not happy about the trade talks being talked about in the press. Markstrom had also told the Flames not to come to him about waiving the no-movement clause unless a deal was in place. Well, both the Devils and Flames thought an agreement was in place until it was not.
According to Eric Francis of Sportsnet, Markstrom told his teammates about his future with the Flames after Chris Tanev was traded to Dallas. Needless to say, when the trade did not happen, Markstrom was not happy. He had decided to leave Calgary and go to New Jersey. It seems this is where his mind is still at.
Once the deal fell through, the Devils look elsewhere. They brought in Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen to help with the goaltending woes. Instead of addressing the issue last offseason, New Jersey just rolled with Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid. That did not work out for New Jersey.
Tom Fitzgerald cannot make the same mistake twice, so the Flames and Devils are talking again. This was always going to happen. Once the original deal fell through, the Flames and Devils would re-engage in the off-season, and goaltending would always be addressed.
So, where do things stand now between the Flames and the Devils? That depends on what report you read or listen to. Some say talks have stalled, and the Devils will look in another direction. Others say they are just working on the package to send Markstrom to New Jersey, even with other teams involved.
According to Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period, a weekly Sirius XM NHL Network guest, the Devils and Flames are working on a deal, but it could be part of a larger package.
“I think it happens sooner from the Calgary side of things. When they go dark, it means they’re working on something. I still think New Jersey is at the front. There’s a pathway to getting a deal done there with the Devils. I know in the season Alex Holtz was a player that was part of discussions that was likely going back to Calgary at the time as part of it. They didn’t want a goalie coming back. They didn’t want one then. They want to move on with Vladar and Wolf as their tandem if they do end up finding a deal involving Markstrom.”
Remember, Jacob Markstrom controls this whole thing because of his no-movement clause. Not wanting a goalie in return, Calgary takes a team like Ottawa out of the equation. Since Markstrom wants to go to New Jersey, it makes sense for the Devils and Flames to find a way to complete the deal.
“Yeah some other teams are poking around looking to see, but I think the goaltending issue might take Ottawa out of it. If they’re gonna bring in a goalie they’d like to move on from Korpisalo. I don’t see a scenario where that works in Calgary, but I still think there’s a pathway to getting something done between the Devils and the Flames involving Markstrom,” Pagnotta continued. “He wants to go there and he’s willing, he’s signed the paperwork to make it happen. They got to figure out all the terms involved in that deal. But I do think that’s, that’s something that they get to.
I heard Andrew Mangiapane‘s name pop up a few times as well. I wonder if there’s a tie there because we know that New Jersey, if it does get larger, we know that New Jersey is looking to add an offensive winger as well to replace Tyler Toffoli, whom they dealt at the deadline and still have that void. But they’re looking to bring in somebody else up front, too. I wonder if this expands a little bit larger than just Markstrom. I wouldn’t be shocked.”
Conroy added fuel to this fire, saying at the end-of-the-year press conference that he was unsure if Jacob Markstrom would be part of this team.
It will be interesting to see how this saga unfolds between the Flames and Devils involving Jacob Markstrom.
