The New Jersey Devils have finally acquired goaltender Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames after months of rumors connecting the two parties.
New Jersey reportedly had a deal lined up with Calgary at this past season’s trade deadline but negotiations fell apart before it could be concluded. Markstrom has waived his full no-move clause to be the newest member of the Devils.
❌ Marks the spot.
Welcome to Jersey, Jacob!
📰: https://t.co/NgYAgP5O5g pic.twitter.com/ZmFBiM79nC
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) June 19, 2024
Markstrom’s move is the latest in a series of deals the Flames have pulled off to enter the franchise into a retooling phase. Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, and Noah Hanifin were all moved by the club before the deadline last March.
Calgary will net 23-year-old defender Kevin Bahl as well as a top-10 protected 2025 first-round draft selection in return for Markstrom. Bahl was drafted in the second round in the 2015 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes and traded to the Devils in a 2019 deal involving Taylor Hall.
Markstrom went 23-23-2 with a .905 save percentage and a 2.78 goals-against average in 48 games with the Flames in 2023-24. Per MoneyPuck, he stopped 13.7 more goals than expected which ranked ninth in the NHL. He has two years remaining on his current contract which sees him paid $4.125 against the salary cap due to the Flames retaining some salary (31.25%) in the trade.
The 34-year-old Swedish netminder has been named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy once prior in his career (2022). He has made the All-Star Game once and won a gold medal with Sweden at the 2013 World Championship.
New Jersey had five different goaltenders start games for them last season including Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws, Akira Schmid, Jake Allen, and Kaapo Kahkonen. Allen was acquired at the deadline from the Montreal Canadiens and is expected to play backup to Markstrom next season.
