On Monday night, the Vegas Golden Knights traded goaltender Akira Schmid to the Florida Panthers. The Panthers were in need for a pair of goalies, so Schmid knocked one domino down. On Tuesday afternoon, the second domino fell as the Panthers acquired goalie Jacob Markstrom from the New Jersey Devils. Markström is set to start a two-year extension with a $6M average annual value next season, per PuckPedia. He is coming off the worst season of his career, at least by save percentage, with an .883 in 43 starts (44 appearances), and will turn 37 years old in January.

Here are the full details of the trade:

Let's break it down.

What Florida Gets

At this point, it's fair to wonder how much Markström has left in the tank. Since finishing as the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy after the 2021-22 season, he holds an .896 save percentage, good for 33^rd among 35 goalies with at least 125 starts in that span. The only goalies rating worse are Elvis Merzlikins and Samuel Ersson. By Evolving Hockey's Goals Saved Above Expected per 100 shots faced, among the same 35 goalies, he's 22% worse than league average. He has been closer to Tristan Jarry than Joey Daccord.

It hasn't even been a workload issue, either. He hasn't made 50 starts in any of the last three seasons and his worst year (last year) was with 43 starts. The poor performance can't be laid at the feet of the New Jersey Devils roster, either, as backup Jake Allen outperformed him by a considerable margin.

With all that said, he's going to a team that is a Stanley Cup contender, and possibly the best team in the league (at least on paper). We don't need to look any further than (likely) former Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to see what that can look like in the fantasy realm. Back in 2024-25, Bobrovsky was about a league-average goalie but was likely a top-10 fantasy netminder because his team limited shots against, which limited goals against, and was good enough offensively to help him rack up wins. Markström can do the same this season – if he can make 45-50 starts and just be league average, he can be a top-10 fantasy goalie. It is a matter of making those starts and being league average, though.

At the least, Markström should be the 1A in the tandem with Schmid. That means 45-50 starts if he stays healthy and isn't costing them games. It will likely make Markström a heavily targeted goalie in fantasy. It will be hard to see him dropping much further than the 12^th-15^th goalie off the board.

With Rodrigues gone, and AJ Greer traded, this might mean a full-season roster spot for Jonah Gadjovich. He won't be terribly productive offensively, but just being in the lineup on a regular basis makes him a threat for 100 penalty minutes and 200 hits. This depends on what else they do with the roster, of course. The same goes for Cole Reinhardt, though he'll be lighter on PIMs and hits, but heavier on point production.

What New Jersey Gets

By adding Evan Rodrigues, the Devils get a very versatile player. If they need him to play as the third-line centre, he can do that. If they need him to play the wing on either of the top two lines, he can do that, too. That kind of versatility, and the lack of scoring wing options past Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier, is good news for Rodrigues' fantasy value. He won't get top PP time, but he can absolutely be a 15-goal, 35-point forward who puts up triple-digit hits and 2+ shots per game. We will have to see what else New Jersey does with their roster, but he was likely going to be a fourth liner in Florida with the forward group as stacked as it is, and injuries kept him from having talented line mates in 2025-26. This looks to be a nice landing for him.

This isn't good news for Dawson Mercer. After posting 27 goals and 56 points back in 2022-23, he has averaged 20 goals and 37 points every 82 games since. He just has not taken that next step, and now the Devils have a proven middle-6 winger who can legitimately help his line mates at both ends of the ice. It isn't hard to see Mercer getting pushed down to the third line with Cody Glass while Bratt, Meier, Rodrigues, and Connor Brown (or Arseny Gritsyuk) take top-6 minutes. The same could be said for Brown and Gristyuk, though, so between those two, Mercer, and Rodrigues, two of them are getting the short end of the stick.

It also isn't good news for Lenni Hameenaho. Assuming the team re-signs Gristyuk, they now have 13 forwards under contract and Hämeenaho is the only one who can be sent to the AHL without waivers. He might be the 13^th forward anyway, but he'll have to earn and keep earning his roster spot.

Jesper Boqvist gives the Devils some fourth-line options, and he can be a 20-point, 150-hit forward with a regular role.

It will be interesting to see what the Devils do with Markström out of the picture. They could just run an Allen/Nico Daws tandem, but it seems likely they go get a proven goalie to play in tandem with Allen. They can't miss the playoffs again with the core that they have.

Who This Helps

Evan Rodrigues

Jonah Gadjovich

Cole Reinhardt

Jacob Markström

Who This Hurts

Dawson Mercer

Lenni Hämeenaho

Arseny Gritsyuk