Fantasy Take: Flames Finally Make a Markstrom Deal With the Devils
Alexander MacLean
2024-06-19
The New Jersey Devils acquired Jacob Markstrom (salary 31.25% retained), and he will now form a tandem next year with Jake Allen. This is a /significant/ improvement over the options from last season. The return to the Calgary Flames was Kevin Bahl and a top-10 protected 2025 1st Round Pick.
This furthers Calgary's rebuild/reset with the extra first that they add to their cupboard, while Kevin Bahl reinforces the defence core that it seems like Calgary is focusing on first. Bahl isn't hugely fantasy relevant, but could see an uptick in minutes (from 17 per game this past year) which would help his peripherals rise from the 1.8 Hits and 1.25 Blks he put up last season. On the flip side, expect the plus-minus to dip.
Jacob Markstrom has had a few seasons and stretches sprinkled in over the last few years where he has played at the level of a Vezina nominee. He turns 35 partway through next season though, and has a bigger body with lots of miles on it. It's probably good for New Jersey that there aren't more than two years remaining on his contract.
Goalies can have a tough time adjusting to new defences, new styles, and generally new teams. On top of that, New Jersey has a new coach, meaning Sheldon Keefe is going to be trying to teams new systems to a defence core (that will see a change or two) in front of two goalies who are both new to the Devils as of March.
That means between Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf there will be 82 games to split next year. Calgary won't be great, so the ratios and win totals likely won't be fantastic, but there will be start and save volume. Having also traded a lot of their higher value skaters, Calgary looks like a team that will be giving up a lot of shots next year. Markstrom's numbers took a dive after last season's trade deadline, averaging about 29 shots against per game on the season, and those numbers (Nine games, two wins, 3.48 GAA, and .870 save percentage) might be closer to the line where we could expect Vladar and Wolf to end up this year. I would expect them to split starts early on next year, and then just ride the hot hand later in the season.
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