MARKSTROM STILL A FLAME AS TRADE DEADLINE PASSES
Questions linger after star goaltender rumoured to be headed to New Jersey
The NHL’S trade deadline has come and gone.
Jacob Markstrom remains a member of the Calgary Flames.
After rampant rumours about a potential deal with the New Jersey Devils, after a public gripe that his situation “could have been handled a lot different from up top,” Markstrom’s name wasn’t among those to pop up Friday on the transaction ticker.
That might answer one question, but it raises several others.
Do the Flames have to patch up the relationship with their star puck-stopper or is all good there?
Is Markstrom, who is signed for the next two seasons at an annual cap hit of US$6 million, interested in sticking around through a retool?
And can the 34-year-old backstop this oft-counted-out crew to an unlikely playoff berth this spring?
The Flames are six points out of the second wild card in the Western Conference. That makes them a long-shot, no doubt, but they are on a 9-4-0 tear since returning from the all-star break and who knows what could happen if their goalie stays hot?
“Jacob is a competitor and he cares about these guys,” said Flames general manager Craig Conroy during his post-deadline news conference. “And as you’ve seen, I know there’s been noise, but all he does is play well. All he does is play well.
“Jacob and I are going to be fine. I’m obviously not on the road trip, but the one thing I know is he cares about this team, he cares about this organization, and he is going to be exactly what he’s been — one of the best goalies in the league.”
It’s been rumoured for weeks that the Devils were hot and heavy in pursuit of Markstrom and that the Swedish stalwart was willing to waive his no-move clause to make it happen.
Some insiders believe a deal was nearly done, with a variety of theories on why it went sideways.
The Devils wound up adding two netminders on deadline day, acquiring Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens and Kaapo Kahkonen from the San Jose Sharks. With all due respect to that duo, neither is in the same class as Markstrom. Nobody has mentioned Allen or Kahkonen as a possible Vezina candidate.
If you’re into connect the dots, here’s what Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald had to say Friday about his efforts to land a marquee masked man: “All I’m trying to do is be fair in that market, but you also need a team that wants to make fair deals, too, versus just extorting you for every big asset you have.” If that means Conroy wanted a haul for Markstrom, well, of course he did.
Heading into Saturday’s matchup against the Florida Panthers (2 p.m. MT, Sportsnet/ Sportsnet 960 The Fan), Markstrom’s stat sheet shows a 20-162 record with a 2.62 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.
According to the data at Evolving Hockey, he ranks second in the league in goals saved above expected.
In post-game interviews, his teammates are constantly praising No. 25 for coming up with clutch stops in crucial moments.
Conroy has been adamant about recouping assets for any soon-to-be unrestricted free agents, which explains why he shipped out Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin in the past five weeks, but Markstrom’s situation is different because he is signed through the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
If the Flames had bid farewell Friday to their go-to goalie, it would have effectively squashed their playoff hopes. On the flip side, it would have opened a roster spot for prized prospect Dustin Wolf, still biding his time with the AHL’S Wranglers.
Conroy wasn’t going to spill the beans on whether he was close to moving Markstrom, though he did express disappointment that his No. 1 netminder was subject to all that trade swirl, saying: “You wish you could keep it out of the media, but that’s just not the way it is today.
“I’m not going to speculate on if we were moving him or if we weren’t moving him. The bottom line is, these are the guys we moved today, and the guys that are here now are part of the Calgary Flames moving forward.” But for how long?
Markstrom’s future could be a hot topic again in the summer.