Confirmed with Link: (G) J. Markstrom (30% retention) traded to NJ for (D) Kevin Bahl, 2025 1st rd pick (Top 10 protected)

[NjdevilfanJim]

W

I'm still shopping that 10th pick for LD or a top 6 winger if possible.

Why? sign Dillon or overpay Zadarov go after DeBrusk.....Make the pick a reward for a crap season.....

 

[OmNomNom]

daniil misyul anyone? he's a LD

 

[NjDevsRR]

potential cost of a mini rebuild after.

 

[Goptor]

I think it’s clear with the bahl trade and the retention we’re targeting a real LD

Too bad the whole class is RD cranked

LDs are available all the time. I'm not too worried about it. The Bahl addition is a Fitz screw up. Had too many young defensemen come up at once and they are forced to trade him.

I didn't like the 2nd draft pick addition in the Meier trade and it has come back to haunt us. No 2nd this year, can't trade 2nd or 3rd next year. There's just not enough draft picks left to improve the team via trade. Kinda forced into trading the 1st.

I did not expect retention. I didn't think the Devils needed it given how Mercer played last year. Certainly increased the price for Markstrom. I'm curious to see how Fitz makes use of it. It'll be a huge blunder to overpay for retention and not make use of the cap savings.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

I think it’s clear with the bahl trade and the retention we’re targeting a real LD

Too bad the whole class is RD cranked

Might be a bit tougher via trade now that the 2025 1st isnt available to use. 10th overall is a nice spot to pick if possible and 2nd's can only go so far

Maybe Holtz is still on his way out? Seamus Casey is also signed and could be available, maybe

 

[NjdevilfanJim]

daniil misyul anyone? he's a LD

Good shot decent size liked what I saw in person up in Utica..More of a stay at home defenseman....Had an injury I think though not sure what it was

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Why? sign Dillon or overpay Zadarov go after DeBrusk.....Make the pick a reward for a crap season.....

The list of players it would be wise to move that pick for is very small. Now if we’re getting a mid to late 1st back with it? That makes the list a bit bigger.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Ya, I wouldn't trade that pick now. You can't go full 10 year old on NHL 24 GM mode and just try for players and burn picks.

 

[Camille the Eel]

The question mark about this trade is Markstrom’s age. At some point a 35 year old player’s performance is going to decline. So how much mileage do we get from him in return for Bahl and a #1 ? Having been burnt on the physical condition of Bernier and Crawford too in prior signings.

This trade is a gamble on Markstrom’s durability. We go into next season with him and Allen, average age between them? We staked major assets on this deal. It feels a little desparate to me. Quite a gamble on his age. How many 36 or 37 year old goalies are still performing big time in the league ? Do we get even 2 prime seasons out of him ?

 

[MadDevil]

Well, not as bad as I thought it could be. Hopefully that first ends up being a late first. If it's top 10 again...well we have bigger issues and it's protected.

 

[Call Me Al]

I swear it's been so long since the Devils have been a consistent winner people forgot just how irrelevant draft picks are to win-now teams. Hell Lou still kept a lot of late firsts when he was here that were clunkers anyway.

zacha, mcleod, smith, matteau, quenneville, stillman… -1st rounders aren’t a sure thing and top 10 protected makes it even more of a crap shoot. i’m content losing this with the quality of young talent in the team.

prospect lists are more or less irrelevant when you’re as stacked with high end young talent that’s locked up long term as we are

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Is he looking to push Siegs down or replace Bahl.

Both

 

[Lou Bloom]

The question mark about this trade is Markstrom’s age. At some point a 35 year old player’s performance is going to decline. So how much mileage do we get from him in return for Bahl and a #1 ? Having been burnt on the physical condition of Bernier and Crawford too in prior signings.

This trade is a gamble on Markstrom’s durability. We go into next season with him and Allen, average age between them? We staked major assets on this deal. It feels a little desparate to me. Quite a gamble on his age. How many 36 or 37 year old goalies are still performing big time in the league ? Do we get even 2 prime seasons out of him ?

It's definitely a gamble, but the cap retention and top 10 pick protection levels out the risk a bit. If Markstrom was on the free agent market right now he'd at least get 2 years $6M per, so getting him at 2/$4.125M is certainly good value compared to paying the likes of Korpisalo at 5x$4M or Jarry at 5x$5.375M or any other FA Goaltender over the past few seasons outside of Ullmark. I still don't love the deal but due to the dearth of good goalies around the league I don't hate this move either considering Markstrom at 2/$4.125M is one of the best goalie value contracts you could have acquired even with the aging risks.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

I hope Nico Daws can survive the offseason; Id like for him to stick around and get a full year as the starter in the AHL

I still have faith he can be our starter after Markstrom, maybe even back him up in 25-26. Ive liked his stints in the NHL (even with the bad counting stats)

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Yeah, the retention is the saving grace for me. I expect the Devils to be at the cap this year, Markstrom at 4.125M is really good and you can still add a good piece or two outside in UFA or via trade still before the RFA's get taken care of

 

[Triumph]

LDs are available all the time. I'm not too worried about it. The Bahl addition is a Fitz screw up. Had too many young defensemen come up at once and they are forced to trade him.

I didn't like the 2nd draft pick addition in the Meier trade and it has come back to haunt us. No 2nd this year, can't trade 2nd or 3rd next year. There's just not enough draft picks left to improve the team via trade. Kinda forced into trading the 1st.

I did not expect retention. I didn't think the Devils needed it given how Mercer played last year. Certainly increased the price for Markstrom. I'm curious to see how Fitz makes use of it. It'll be a huge blunder to overpay for retention and not make use of the cap savings.

The Devils were not forced to trade Bahl by any means. I think he can maybe be a 'top 4' D but once a D reaches a certain age, if you think he's plateauing, there's no use in keeping him. The Devils really do not have that many young LHDs champing at the bit to get regular time. I like Hatakka but he didn't force Bahl out.

A 2nd round pick isn't really going to improve the team a whole lot. You can get a 3rd line type forward/2nd pair D for that, maybe.

 

[bossram]

The question mark about this trade is Markstrom’s age. At some point a 35 year old player’s performance is going to decline. So how much mileage do we get from him in return for Bahl and a #1 ? Having been burnt on the physical condition of Bernier and Crawford too in prior signings.

This trade is a gamble on Markstrom’s durability. We go into next season with him and Allen, average age between them? We staked major assets on this deal. It feels a little desparate to me. Quite a gamble on his age. How many 36 or 37 year old goalies are still performing big time in the league ? Do we get even 2 prime seasons out of him ?

Markstrom breaks down by the end of every season. If he plays 60 games, he's a disaster waiting to fall apart.

Allen will have to be in a pretty consistent 1A/1B rotation if they want Markstrom to make it to the playoffs.

daniil misyul anyone? he's a LD

They can't go into next season with Luke, Siegs, and a rookie as their LD.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Markstrom breaks down by the end of every season. If he plays 60 games, he's a disaster waiting to fall apart.

Allen will have to be in a pretty consistent 1A/1B rotation if they want Markstrom to make it to the playoffs.

 

[JK3]

I hope Kahk tears it up wherever he goes. I get wanting to go for a proven guy but this sure as shit isn’t big game hunting. It’s Fitz tunnel vision from the start that’ll end up in another cooked geriatric.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Yup, mentioned this a couple times. Having a solid system in place, getting the entire team to buy in, solid contribution from the forward core, and dominating possession in general, all seem to help big time in overcoming potential deficits in talent among your dmen

It's also not about "deficiencies", it's literally what you have to do in a salary cap world. Can't expect to have a full roster of elite players. Having said that, they're still in a position where they can get a really good player short-term and still be fine on cap. Won't be like that forever though.

 

[Bleedred]

Yeah, the retention is the saving grace for me. I expect the Devils to be at the cap this year, Markstrom at 4.125M is really good and you can still add a good piece or two outside in UFA or via trade still before the RFA's get taken care of

I think Markstrom and Allen combined are cheaper than Vanecek/Blackwood from 21-22 with the retention on both.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I hope Kahk tears it up wherever he goes. I get wanting to go for a proven guy but this sure as shit isn’t big game hunting. It’s Fitz tunnel vision from the start that’ll end up in another cooked geriatric.

I bet Marty had a lot of influence in this too, to go for Markstrom.

 

[Bleedred]

Fitz letting Rogalski come back yet again for a year 5 may just show he's taking responsibility for the goaltending results, but I don't know how much rope this guy is gonna get.

Goalie coaches have been fired after only 2 years for those types of results.

I don't see how Rogalski survives one more year of disastrous goalie play, though I didn't think he would have survived last year either.

We may be talking about Fitz not surviving it either if we miss the playoffs with inadequate goaltending again.

 

[Malaka]

Markstrom is a great goalie so long as he gets the proper help/coaching which is what clubs like Calgary and Vancouver feature.

Unfortunately yall haven’t fixed the elephant in the room with your goalie coach rogalski(who was gifted tenure for marrying someone’s daughter in the org? Am I remembering that right?)

What is NJD biggest need now after this? Depth D on the right side?

 

[Devs3cups]

Not trying to derail this but I hate how Nemec never seems to be mentioned when talking about the core by publications/media. He obviously is. It’s definitely known around the league and internally but I feel like cherry picking lol.