Devils acquire G Jacob Markstrom from Flames in exchange for G Kevin Barr and a 2025 first-round pick

The biggest thing to watch in the 2024 offseason for the New Jersey Devils will be how they respond.

Tom Fitzgerald spent months pursuing Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom via trade last season, but the Flames got cold feet and opted to keep him at the trade deadline. But with Markstrom publicly irritated by the situation and eventually returning to the Flames, it seemed only a matter of time before trade talks were revisited.

Today, Tom Fitzgerald finally got the man he wanted.

TSN’s Travis Yost broke the news this morning.

TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger then broke down the details.

Pierre LeBlanc of The Athletic provided key details about the pick.

The Flames will also retain payroll over the next two seasons, 31.25 percent to be exact.

Last but not least, the Devils announced the deal, making it official.

To recap, the Devils traded defenseman Kevin Barr and a 2025 first-round pick to the Calgary Flames for goaltender Jacob Markstrom. The first-round pick the Devils sent to the Flames was top-10 protected. Calgary will retain 31.25% of Markstrom’s contract, reducing the cap hit to $4.125 million per year for the final two years of his contract.

All in all, I think this is a pretty good deal for both parties. From Calgary’s perspective, they get a first-round pick if/when the Devils return to the playoffs next season, which ideally will end up being somewhere in the 20s, thanks in part to Markstrom, at least providing a floor of the “league-average goalie” that Devils fans are willing to sign right now. They also get a young defenseman in Kevin Barr, who signed for $1.05 million this season and will be under team control for the next few seasons. After trading away several NHL defensemen last season, getting the young, cheap, controllable Barr along with a first-round pick is a pretty good deal for Flames general manager Craig Conroy.

But from the Devils’ perspective, they got a much-needed goaltending upgrade. Yes, Markstrom is a cut above Jake Allen and the rest of the guys the Devils sent out last season.

Markstrom ranked seventh among starting goalies (40 games or more) last season, saving 13.7 more goals than expected, between Linus Ullmark and Igor Shesterkin.

To put that in perspective, Vitek Vanecek had a GSAx of -11.2 in 32 games. Nico Daws (-2.6) and Akira Schmid (-3.0) weren’t much better. Jake Allen had a GSAx of -1.9 in 34 games with Montreal and New Jersey.

With Markstrom and Allen paired at goaltending this offseason, Fitzgerald can keep Akira Schmid and Nico Daws in Utica and allow them to continue to develop if he wants. But more importantly, it reassures Fitzgerald that the biggest effort he needed to make this offseason is already done. Now he can focus his energy elsewhere, such as signing a left guard to replace Barr (Looking at you, Brendan Dillon). Fitzgerald still has $16,048,603 in remaining cap space to work with and he has a list of things he wants to accomplish, so we’ll see what he comes up with.

Last but not least, the Devils retained better trade chips if they wanted to try to trade someone else. I don’t doubt that Fitzgerald offered the 10th overall pick this year. But I think he was smart not to trade that asset for Markstrom’s two-year contract. The Devils also didn’t trade Alex Holtz, Seamus Casey, Simon Nemec, Lenny Haminaho, or any other notable rookie. They did trade Kevin Barr, but one could argue that the Devils needed more blue-line experience anyway and might be looking to upgrade somewhere on the blue line. Doug Hamilton, Luke Hughes, and Nemec aren’t going anywhere, and I’m not sure it makes sense to sell John Marino or Jonas Siegenthaler for a low price. That makes Barr seem like an outsider.

Is Markstrom a long-term solution at goaltending? I think not, as he’s 34, not 24. But he does buy time for Fitzgerald to find a more permanent long-term solution. The Devils won’t get Jeremy Swayman this offseason, but they’ve invested quite a bit of draft capital and/or money into the position over the past few years between Daws, Schmid, Jakub Malik, Isaac Poulter, and Tyler Brennan. They ultimately need to draft and develop their own Swayman, rather than go out and try to buy one. Markstrom’s presence on an NHL roster should prevent the Devils from throwing more untested young goalies directly into the fire and allow that development process to happen naturally.

Is Markstrom my first choice? I would still say no. A few weeks ago, when I saw the trade targetI said I thought Linus Ullmark was the best option. Ullmark would have been my first choice. I have no doubt Fitzgerald signed Ullmark, but Ullmark also has his own no-trade protection, which may be an obstacle the Devils cannot overcome. If so, so be it. I also think there is a good chance that the other goalie I mentioned, Juuse Saros, will never be drafted. The market is what it is. It is better to acquire Markstrom than to carry the baggage and convince yourself to go with the Allen/Anthony Stolarz combo.

I think Fitzgerald’s acquisition of Markstrom is a good deal. But what do you think? Feel free to leave a comment below, and thanks for reading.