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The NHL’s commerce deadline has now come and gone.
Jacob Markstrom stays a member of the Calgary Flames.
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After rampant rumours a couple of potential take care of the New Jersey Devils, after a public gripe that his state of affairs “might have been dealt with quite a bit completely different from up prime,” Markstrom’s identify wasn’t amongst these to pop up Friday on the transaction ticker.
Which may reply one query, nevertheless it raises a number of others …
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Do the Flames need to patch up the connection with their star puck-stopper, or is all good there?
Is Markstrom, who’s signed for the following two seasons at an annual salary-cap hit of US$6 million, eager about sticking round by means of a retool?
And might the 34-year-old backstop this oft-counted-out crew to an unlikely playoff berth this spring? The Flames are at the moment six factors out of the second wildcard within the Western Convention. That makes them a long-shot, little doubt, however they’re on a 9-4-0 tear since getting back from the all-star break and who is aware of what might occur if their goalie stays sizzling?
“Jacob is a competitor, and he cares about these guys,” stated Flames normal supervisor Craig Conroy throughout his post-deadline press convention. “And as you’ve seen, I do know there’s been noise, however all he does is play nicely.
“Jacob and I are going to be advantageous. I’m clearly not on the road-trip, however the one factor I do know is he cares about this workforce, he cares about this group, and he’s going to be precisely what he’s been — among the finest goalies within the league.”
It’s been rumoured for weeks that the Devils had been sizzling and heavy in pursuit of Markstrom — and that the Swedish stalwart was prepared to waive his no-move clause to make it occur.
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Some insiders imagine a deal was darn-near accomplished, with a wide range of theories on why it went sideways.
The Devils wound up including two netminders on deadline day, buying Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens and Kaapo Kahkonen from the San Jose Sharks. With all due respect to that duo, neither is in the identical class as Markstrom. No one has talked about Allen or Kahkonen as a could-be Vezina candidate.
In the event you’re into connect-the-dots, right here’s what Devils normal supervisor Tom Fitzergerald needed to say Friday about his efforts to land a marquee masked man: “All I’m making an attempt to do is be honest in that market, however you additionally want a workforce that wishes to make honest offers, too, versus simply extorting you for each huge asset you’ve got.” If meaning Conroy needed a haul for Markstrom, nicely, after all he did.
Heading into Saturday’s matchup towards the Florida Panthers (2 p.m. MT, Sportsnet/Sportsnet 960 The Fan), Markstrom’s stat-sheet reveals a 20-16-2 document with a 2.62 GAA and .911 save proportion.
In response to the info at Evolving Hockey, he ranks second within the league in objectives saved above anticipated.
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In post-game interviews, his teammates are always praising No. 25 for developing with clutch stops in essential moments.
Conroy has been adamant about recouping belongings for any soon-to-be unrestricted free brokers, which explains why he shipped out Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin over the previous 5 weeks. However Markstrom’s state of affairs is completely different as a result of he’s signed by means of the top of the 2025-26 marketing campaign.
If the Flames had bid farewell Friday to their go-to goalie, it might have successfully squashed their playoff hopes. On the flip aspect, it might have opened a roster spot for prized prospect Dustin Wolf, nonetheless biding his time with the AHL’s Wranglers.
Conroy wasn’t going to spill the beans on whether or not he was ever near shifting Markstrom, though he did specific disappointment that his No. 1 netminder was topic to all that commerce swirl, saying: “You would like you could possibly maintain it out of the media, however that’s simply not the best way it’s right now.”
“I’m not going to take a position on if we had been shifting him or if we weren’t shifting him,” Conroy stated. “The underside line is, these are the blokes we moved right now, and the blokes which might be right here now are a part of the Calgary Flames shifting ahead.”
However for a way lengthy?
Markstrom’s future may very well be a sizzling subject once more in the summertime months.
wgilbertson@postmedia.com
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