The rumblings became reality with Wednesday’s announcement that the Calgary Flames traded veteran goaltender Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils.
The Flames got 23-year-old defenceman Kevin Bahl and a 2025 first-round pick in return.
Calgary retained 31.25 per cent of Markstrom’s remaining contract, which has two years left on the $36 million US deal ($6-million average annual value) he signed Oct. 9, 2020. It works out to $1.875 million annually.
Markstrom, 34, was the subject of trade rumours as Calgary (38-39-5) hovered outside playoff position for most of the 2023-24 season.
Fuelling that chatter was 23-year-old Dustin Wolf, who was twice American Hockey League’s goaltender of the year, waiting in the wings and 26-year-old Dan Vladar a capable backup to Markstrom, who at the conclusion of the season said he missed more time and games than he wanted to with various injuries.
The Flames trading centre Elias Lindholm and defencemen Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin leading into the March trade deadline signalled a retooling and a youth movement afoot in Calgary.
“Today’s trade demonstrates our focus on the infusion of young talented players into our roster as well as acquiring important draft capital, while maintaining our commitment as a playoff competitive team,” Flames general manager Craig Conroy said Wednesday in a statement. “We thank Jacob for his professionalism and understanding of our decision to make this trade now and at this stage in his career.”
Markstrom waived his contract’s no-move clause to join the Devils.
“[New Jersey] has something really good going on,” he said Wednesday from Sweden during a virtual media conference call.
“Most of you guys knew they made a push [for a trade] and there was a lot of talk throughout the year last year. Nothing happened there. After the season, it kind of picked up again.
Career-high 37 wins in 2021-22 season
“They really wanted me to come and it’s always exciting to join a group, a team and an organization like the New Jersey Devils [which] has a lot of history. Can’t wait to make it my home.”
Markstrom posted a 23-23-2 record with a .905 save percentage and 2.78 goals-against average for the Flames this past season.
His best season as a Flame was 2021-22, when he recorded a career-high 37 wins, a career-best 2.22 GAA and .922 save percentage.
Markstrom led the league with nine shutouts and finished second in voting for the Vezina Trophy. He backstopped Calgary to the second round of playoffs and their…
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