Right move right now: Why relying on Jacob Markstrom gives the New Jersey Devils their best chance to win this season

You can’t have them all.

Although some people may New Jersey Devils When signing Yaroslav Askarov last week, I didn’t expect Tom Fitzgerald to facilitate the second major goalie trade of the 2024 offseason. With Askarov joining the Sharks, as Mike Grier said, he will fighting With Vitek Vanecek and Mackenzie Blackwood battling for NHL roles during training camp, some fans may feel like they’re missing out on a “can’t miss” goalie prospect. If he could accept an AHL assignment from San Jose, then surely he would accept one from New Jersey — right? Even so, a look back over the past 20 years shows that some of those “can’t miss” goalies did end up missing out, or they didn’t perform as well as expected for as long as they should.

The San Jose Sharks still have a few years to go from losing to competitive. Most of their rookies are still young, and they can wait a little longer to realize Askarov’s full potential. The Devils, on the other hand, want to win this year. They want to win next year. They want to win the year after that. Jacob Markstrom may only be under contract for two seasons, and he may be 34 years old. He’s still the better option for the Devils as they pursue Stanley Cup.

Now you might be thinking, Of course Markstrom was the better choice to win! Still, this is the crux of why acquiring Askarov now would be a limiting move. If Fitzgerald had also acquired the young goalie, Markstrom would have played in every playoff game anyway. With Markstrom still posting excellent save numbers above expectations — especially on shots and deflections near the net — there’s no room for Askarov to play a significant role this season. Just look at Hockey VisualizationMarkstrom’s defensive map last season – he was very good at defending slot shots, the only thing he was weak at was defending penalties and slam dunks in the faceoff circle (power play, I guess), and good coaching (look at Ryan McGill and Travis Keef here) can fix that.

Hockey Visualization

If Jacob Markstrom wasn’t a great goalie with a long history of saving well above average high-danger shots, I’d be looking at this differently. I’d be following the Askarov rumors like I would NHL free agency day — glued to the internet, waiting for every tidbit of information to appear on Twitter. In my opinion, Tom Fitzgerald has his goaltending job done for now. If anything, I might be more disappointed that Fitz didn’t draft Ilya Nabokov in the second round in 2024. NHL DraftBut Nabokov was picked 11th overall before they drafted Mikhail Yegorov, and he was still a good goaltending prospect, so I can’t blame him.

Still, you can’t have everybody. And I don’t think it’s a good idea to trade anyone for a player who will be a backup goalie at best this season. Many in these circles like to use Dawson Mercer as trade bait, but Mercer will be a top-six forward this season. Even in San Jose, Askarov Probably not Become a regular in the NHL. If Mercer is part of Askarov’s asking price, I think it will greatly hurt the team’s chances of winning this season. If the Devils make the playoffs and are suddenly forced to rely on Askarov, the team could be in trouble.

Do I think the Devils could offer Askarov a nice contract without Mercer? Sure, but that’s questionable. Maybe Arseni Gritsyuk, Seamus Casey and a future first-round pick would be enough. Maybe Fitzgerald made such an offer but was rejected because of Nashville’s asset preferences (see Friedman’s tweet above). Still, just look at our top 25 players under 25. As we continue to move toward the best players, consider this – is this a very good prospect at the moment? It’s definitely a a lot of Weaker than it was a year or two ago. While there is still good potential on the roster, another trade or two would leave the Devils pretty barren in terms of non-NHL prospects.

During the Stanley Cup window, I think the team should focus most on making the team more likely to win. NowYou never know how long this team can hold together and remain competitive. Maybe some of the promising players this season will be traded for some additional forward help. Maybe Arseni Gritsyuk will join the team after the KHL season and become a regular in the Devils’ playoffs. Regardless, the success or failure of this season may depend more on Skater More than any goalie should worry about this.

Will Askarov be of much help a few years from now? Most likely, but not necessarily. The Devils still have solid goaltenders in Nico Daws and Jakub Malik. Don’t forget, he had a .912 save percentage in the first 12 games of the 2023-24 season before Nico Daws was eliminated. In the six games in which Daws rested for three days or more, his save percentage was .931. Five of his first nine appearances In contrast Just one of his last 12. I do believe Daws Can He’s been a very good backup this season — but he’s probably better suited for 45 or 50 games in the AHL. As for Jakub Malik, the Devils currently have one of the best young goalies in Europe, who is the same age as Askarov and has a better save percentage in the tougher Finnish league than Askarov did in the AHL. Between Daws and Malik, I still have reason to believe the Devils have a future starting goalie, or at least a strong duo.

Ultimately, the timing of this trade wasn’t right. Perhaps if the Devils had a stronger system of prospect players or there was an odd-man-out situation that needed to be addressed at the NHL level, they could have beaten Nashville’s offer. Markstrom is a goalie hungry for another playoff run and hungry for his first Cup Final appearance. Given the recent performance of goalkeepers in their 30sI believe Markstrom will balance the speed of the still-young Devils skaters with the excitement of the game.

Your thoughts

What do you think of the Sharks acquiring Askarov? Do you think Askarov is more likely to move this season or in the future? Is it worth sacrificing competitiveness now for the possibility that Askarov will become a better goalie in the future? Do you think Markstrom can lead the Devils to a Stanley Cup? Please leave your thoughts below, and thank you for reading.