Things turned south as he regressed to a .892 SV% in 2022-23, but he put together a nice rebound campaign this season despite battling through a handful of injuries. His 23-23-2 record isn’t impressive at first glance, but he returned to being a top-10 goalie in the league in terms of goals saved above expected with 13.7, per MoneyPuck. He had a .905 SV%, 2.78 GAA and two shutouts behind a Flames team that had its worst season defensively in quite some time under first-year head coach Ryan Huska.
Even still, Markstrom’s results last year were brought down by a poor stretch of post-trade deadline play – an understandable slump given the trade rumors connecting him to New Jersey at the time and the fact he was playing with a lower-body injury. From March 4 onward, he went 2-8-0 with a .869 SV% without putting up an SV% over .900 in any single game. To put it succinctly, Markstrom had a better year than a quick look at his results would indicate.
Since signing his six-year, $36M deal with the Flames in free agency in 2020, Markstrom has a .907 SV% over 212 starts and one relief appearance. That’s good for seven goals saved above average, indicative of the peaks and valleys he’s shown during his time in Alberta. He’s one of four goalies to start more than 200 games over that time frame, joining perennial Vezina challengers Connor Hellebuyck, Juuse Saros and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Landing Markstrom at $4.125M against the cap for the next two seasons is a considerable discount for Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald, as it’s much less than he would cost on the open market. He’ll form a formidable veteran one-two punch in net with Allen, who remains under contract with New Jersey next season at a reduced $1.925M cap hit thanks to the Canadiens retaining salary when trading him at the deadline. The Devils, after dealing with younger, more inconsistent unknowns in Schmid and Vanecek for most of last season, now have an above-average backup and starter for a total of $6.05M against the cap.
Calling Markstrom truly elite would likely earn you some push-back, given his year-to-year dips with Calgary and that push-back would be fair. But he has the most established track record of any goalie the Devils have iced since Cory Schneider’s run of elite play in the mid-2010s. The deal has them much better positioned to make the playoffs next season and embark on a deeper run than in 2022 when they escaped the first round but were dispatched by the Hurricanes in five games in Round 2. The 23-year-old Daws and 24-year-old Schmid are also afforded some additional development time in the AHL after an inconsistent 2023-24 campaign for both.
Markstrom, 34, has two years left on his deal. He’ll become a UFA in 2026 and ideally, by that point, one of Daws or Schmid will have developed into dependable NHL options. While on the older side, he fits well with their immediate timeline. They’re now left with $16.05M in projected cap space with eight open roster spots, per CapFriendly. Versatile forward Dawson Mercer is their only notable RFA in need of a new deal.
New Jersey pulling off this deal without surrendering a top prospect or their 10th overall selection in this year’s draft is a good piece of work by Fitzgerald, especially with the Flames retaining a considerable amount of salary.
Losing Bahl isn’t nothing, though. The 23-year-old was a second-round pick in 2018 out of OHL Ottawa. He did well this season, his first true full-time NHL campaign, posting 11 points in 82 games while averaging 17:24 a night. His 6-foot-6, 230-pound frame obviously draws appeal for Calgary and GM Craig Conroy said Wednesday he was a “priority player” throughout discussions with the Devils (via Sportsnet’s Eric Francis). However, his possession metrics last season were subpar, logging a 48.3 CF% and 48.7 xGF% at even strength that both fell south of New Jersey team averages.
Bahl is still young, however, and carries legitimate top-four shutdown upside. He’s under contract next season at a reasonable $1.05M cap hit and will be an arbitration-eligible RFA next summer. In 148 career games with the Devils since making his debut in the 2020-21 season, Bahl has four goals, 21 assists, 25 points and a -1 rating while logging 16:14 per contest.
If the Devils’ 2025 first-rounder does land within the top 10, they’ll transfer their 2026 first-round pick to Calgary instead, regardless of its placement.
TSN’s Travis Yost was first to report Markstrom was headed to New Jersey while TSN’s Darren Dreger was first to report the trade return and salary retention. Additionally, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic was first to report the 2025 first-round pick was top-10 protected.
