On Wednesday, news broke out via TSN's Travis Yost, that the New Jersey Devils were in the process of finalizing a deal to acquire Markstrom from the Calgary Flames. Both sides had a deal essentially done during the regular season before the Flames backed out at the last second, much to the chagrin of Markstrom.
The Devils had made it abundantly clear that they were looking to address their goaltending this summer and were willing to part with their 10th overall pick if need be. Fortunately for them, they not only got their man but they were able to keep the 2024 first round pick as well.
Many teams claimed their interest in Markstrom throughout the regular season and even in the early parts of the off-season including the Toronto Maple Leafs. TSN's Darren Dreger confirmed as much in an earlier tweet when he said that "...Calgary was given flexibility to see what the true market was. There were discussions with other clubsOtt and Tor included. In the end the best deal was made with the Devils."
It remains to be seen what the Maple Leafs offered for Markstrom but there was indeed interest coming from Brad Treliving - the former general manager of the Flames, and Markstrom was willing to waive his NMC for a trade to Toronto.
In the end, the Devils parted with a young defenseman in Kevin Bahl and a 2025 first round pick that is top-10 protected while also retaining a little over 30% of his remaining contract. On paper, it doesn't look like an overwhelming return for a solid starting goaltender but only time will tell if the Devils came out like gangbusters or not.
