Confirmed Trade: [NJD/CGY] Jacob Markstrom for Kevin Bahl, 2025 1st round pick (top 10 protected); Flames retain 31.25%

[JimEIV]

Bahl was a lot better than most Devil fans are giving him credit for. The team was a total mess with injuries and make-shift pairs were happening all year.

The notion that he's just a bottom pairing Dman is a strange thing to say for a 23 year old that just completed his first full NHL season. I mean it may very well be true but he was decent in his first full season and of course any 23 year old Dman's game is going to refine and get cleaner with time..

But he was one of the Devils top 4 PKer on team that had the 10th best PK

He played against some of the toughest competition for long stretches of this season while Siegenthaler was out and wasn't terrible when paired with Marino. In fact, defensively it was probably the Devils best pairing for short spurts of the year.

 

[Double Dion]

Holtz spent last summer skating with Bratt and his skating coach and really improved his skating. Hopefully he does the same again this year and makes some more improvements.


MacDermid plays forward for the Devils.

Bratt is one of the best skaters in the league. That could help.

I know MacDermid goes back and forth. He doesn't really play anything except face punching. I was replying to the guy who said they don't need a defenseman. If they don't then they're playing MacDermid there for a regular shift every night. I don't think that's wise.

 

[tmg]

. Goaltending was a huge issue. So was goaltending. What are the two things New Jersey has addressed since the end of the season?

While I suspect one of those was supposed to say “coaching”, I think this way works well too. Goaltending was so superlatively bad it was the two hugest issues.

 

[catters078]

Think this is a fair trade.

Flames fans may have had eyes on a fleecing as most fan bases do, but a 1st round pick for a 36 year old goalie is good value.

Bahl looks to be a solid 2nd or 3rd pairing defenseman too.

The Flames have now 5 x 1sts in the next 3 years is it? Draft well and the future is very bright, especially if they bottom out this season and get a top 5 pick from their own.

Devils get what they need.

To me pretty close to win win.

 

[dgibb10]

just FYI Bahl barely ever uses his size. He skates decently for a guy that size, but he might as well be 5'10'' with how soft he plays

There was like a week or two where he was playing physical and then he forgot it again

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Couldn't have got this done at the deadline? Goober chucklef***s running Calgary's front office.

 

[Double Dion]

Think this is a fair trade.

Flames fans may have had eyes on a fleecing as most fan bases do, but a 1st round pick for a 36 year old goalie is good value.

Bahl looks to be a solid 2nd or 3rd pairing defenseman too.

The Flames have now 5 x 1sts in the next 3 years is it? Draft well and the future is very bright, especially if they bottom out this season and get a top 5 pick from their own.

Devils get what they need.

To me pretty close to win win.

Markstrom just turned 34 this year FWIW. I don't disagree with your post though.

Couldn't have got this done at the deadline? Goober chucklef***s running Calgary's front office.

He had more value at the TDL than he has now. Thanks again Murray!

 

[dgibb10]

This reminds me of the deal Nj made for Schneider (G) when they gave up 9th overall. The only problem is Schneider back then was still young.

Like others have said, if the pick ends up close to 10th overall, NJ loses this deal. I’m also just not sold on Markstrom at this point in his career. He’s not young like Schneider was…

The problem with the schneider deal was the fact that the team had just 2 player reach 60 points in the 7 years after trading for him, one of which was 41 year old Jagr

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

Couldn't have got this done at the deadline? Goober chucklef***s running Calgary's front office.

? It was pretty clearly not the FO that nixed the trade. It was the Flames dumbass owner.

 

[dgibb10]

Bahl was a lot better than most Devil fans are giving him credit for. The team was a total mess with injuries and make-shift pairs were happening all year.

The notion that he's just a bottom pairing Dman is a strange thing to say for a 23 year old that just completed his first full NHL season. I mean it may very well be true but he was decent in his first full season and of course any 23 year old Dman's game is going to refine and get cleaner with time..

But he was one of the Devils top 4 PKer on team that had the 10th best PK

He played against some of the toughest competition for long stretches of this season while Siegenthaler was out and wasn't terrible when paired with Marino. In fact, defensively it was probably the Devils best pairing for short spurts of the year.

If you want the real engine behind NJDs PK it was brendan smith tbh.

As dogshit as he was at actual hockey he's one of the best PK guys in the league

 

[Double Dion]

? It was pretty clearly not the FO that nixed the trade. It was the Flames dumbass owner.

Our owner has been an issue for the entirety of my adulthood. He's a pillager and just extracts value from the team and our province. He's cost us 3 solid trades now and taken us the wrong direction for decades.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I have never ever been a Markstrom guy. I’ve always felt like there’s been way too many excuses for why he doesn’t put up elite numbers.

At the same time, this makes the Devils better. They have a guy in net that they are now hoping can match some of the best goalies in the East. I think that’s way too much to give up, value-wise, but they don’t lose anything substantial in the trade and got better. Hard to complain much with that. For Calgary, they hit the jackpot.

People too hamstrung on the pick being a first. If NJD makes the playoffs, it's already a win for them and their core. Only way this trade busts for them is if they're in the grey area of not being in the playoffs and not being bad enough for a top 10 pick. A lot has to go wrong for that to happen that you can't even blame the Devils if it happens for a second straight year. Hell, they're at 10th in this year's draft and had the season of hell (no pun intended) in regards to injuries, coaching and obviously the McLeod/Foote/Team Canada situation

 

[Figgy44]

Think this is a fair trade.

Flames fans may have had eyes on a fleecing as most fan bases do, but a 1st round pick for a 36 year old goalie is good value.

Bahl looks to be a solid 2nd or 3rd pairing defenseman too.

The Flames have now 5 x 1sts in the next 3 years is it? Draft well and the future is very bright, especially if they bottom out this season and get a top 5 pick from their own.

Devils get what they need.

To me pretty close to win win.

We might have gotten carried away in our desperate need for some good news.

Snowy passing away, Lindholm/Z/Hanifin wanting out, trading Tanev making sense, trading Toffoli at the start of the season part of a long list of guys exiting the org, Sutter fiasco resulting in his firing, newbie coaches/brutal performance this season, rumors of other guys wanting out, Dube fiasco, Ronni fiasco... bleh.

But yeah, this trade was a solid trade.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

People too hamstrung on the pick being a first. If NJD makes the playoffs, it's already a win for them and their core. Only way this trade busts for them is if they're in the grey area of not being in the playoffs and not being bad enough for a top 10 pick. A lot has to go wrong for that to happen that you can't even blame the Devils if it happens for a second straight year. Hell, they're at 10th in this year's draft and had the season of hell (no pun intended) in regards to injuries, coaching and obviously the McLeod/Foote/Team Canada situation

Yeah, they needed to go get a goalie to give themselves a chance to be better. They are in that stage where they need to be trying to win, not keep and retain as many futures as they can.

The value isn't good, but the price is what it is and most importantly you don't give up anything too valuable, even if you lose it value-wise. You accept the price all day long if the trade makes a difference in addressing the team's biggest need.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

just FYI Bahl barely ever uses his size. He skates decently for a guy that size, but he might as well be 5'10'' with how soft he plays

I think a part of that may have been coaching and his own personal maturity, as well; if he can learn to use his body effectively and often, it will be unfortunate for NJ to have missed out on

Though, for the record, Im a fan of the deal for my Devils; I can just also see the potential for Bahl to improve and him being an unfortunate domino of having too many good, young defenseman

 

[BluesyShoes]

Like it for both teams, although I'm not sure I what to expect from Markstrom; fan of him as a person, but he's been hot and cold throughout his career. No doubt he is a horse that can carry a team far when he is on his game, though.

Calgary looking very patient and focused on a competitive window near the end of the decade, which is smart. With all their draft capital, they'll have the luxury of being very meticulous in how they build for the brand of hockey they want to play. Hopefully Conroy and his staff have their ducks in a row in how they understand the modern game.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Yeah, they needed to go get a goalie to give themselves a chance to be better. They are in that stage where they need to be trying to win, not keep and retain as many futures as they can.

The value isn't good, but the price is what it is and most importantly you don't give up anything too valuable, even if you lose it value-wise. You accept the price all day long if the trade makes a difference in addressing the team's biggest need.

Yep, that's where I'm at. Chances are if NJ is good anyway, that pick was going to be gone in some sort of deadline trade as well. Better off making the trade with the first in the offseason and plug your biggest hole, take the #10 you have this year and replenish your prospect pool before you have this contending window that you've decided on for a little bit. Also said this on our board, what happens if they go for Ullmark/Saros and those guys implode with massive deals? You're in the same spot as Florida was pre 2023 to where you have to open the goalie has a career renaissance like Bob has had the past year and a half. Markstrom is arguably the safest move they can make, it's similar to when Shero went for PK Subban in 2019 as opposed to the other dmen that got moved that summer.

 

[NJ DevLolz]

Very happy they targeted Markstrom for a variety of reasons:

a) Acquisition cost wasn't nearly as high as Saros or Ullmark. You'd bet your bottom dollar both would have had to include this year's number 10 overall.

b) Saros and Ullmark have questions as well. Saros is a smaller goalie who relies on athleticism and reflexes to compensate. As he enters his 30s, who knows how he ages. Ullmark has never been an undisputed starter with a heavy workload. His career high is 48 games played. How does he hold up with 55-60 starts?

c) This is my biggest reservation and it's the extensions Saros and Ullmark would receive. The Devils won't get saddled with a brutal contract from Markstrom. If he gets hurt or sucks, it's a manageable 2 year deal at 4 million. Not 7-9 million x 5 that Ullmark will likely get or 9-10.5 x 7 that Saros will net.

 

[Bond]

There was like a week or two where he was playing physical and then he forgot it again

Oh man. I’m going to hate him haha. Those guy’s irrationally bug me

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

Very happy they targeted Markstrom for a variety of reasons:

a) Acquisition cost wasn't nearly as high as Saros or Ullmark. You'd bet your bottom dollar both would have had to include this year's number 10 overall.

b) Saros and Ullmark have questions as well. Saros is a smaller goalie who relies on athleticism and reflexes to compensate. As he enters his 30s, who knows how he ages. Ullmark has never been an undisputed starter with a heavy workload. His career high is 48 games played. How does he hold up with 55-60 starts?

c) This is my biggest reservation and it's the extensions Saros and Ullmark would receive. The Devils won't get saddled with a brutal contract from Markstrom. If he gets hurt or sucks, it's a manageable 2 year deal at 4 million. Not 7-9 million x 5 that Ullmark will likely get or 9-10.5 x 7 that Saros will net.

Im still very excited for Nico Daws' future. I like our other prospects as well but he stands out to me as a potential starter with some more seasoning

 

[justHypnos]

Bahl was a lot better than most Devil fans are giving him credit for. The team was a total mess with injuries and make-shift pairs were happening all year.

The notion that he's just a bottom pairing Dman is a strange thing to say for a 23 year old that just completed his first full NHL season. I mean it may very well be true but he was decent in his first full season and of course any 23 year old Dman's game is going to refine and get cleaner with time..

But he was one of the Devils top 4 PKer on team that had the 10th best PK

He played against some of the toughest competition for long stretches of this season while Siegenthaler was out and wasn't terrible when paired with Marino. In fact, defensively it was probably the Devils best pairing for short spurts of the year.

Yup, Bahl is an excellent defensive defenseman. Probably the best the Devils had last year. Only problem is that he thought he was Bobby Orr and regularly put the team in trouble trying to split the D/play forward. I assume that with time (and maybe better coaching) he will accept his fate as a defensive defenseman. Therefore, I think Bahl straight up for Markstrom was an overpayment.

 

[Figgy44]

Yup, Bahl is an excellent defensive defenseman. Probably the best the Devils had last year. Only problem is that he thought he was Bobby Orr and regularly put the team in trouble trying to split the D/play forward. I assume that with time (and maybe better coaching) he will accept his fate as a defensive defenseman. Therefore, I think Bahl straight up for Markstrom was an overpayment.

Oh joy! I totally missed having that after Zadorov left. At least we ain't paying Bahl 4+ AAV to do that.

 

[Jared Dunn]

Think this is a fair trade.

Flames fans may have had eyes on a fleecing as most fan bases do, but a 1st round pick for a 36 year old goalie is good value.

Bahl looks to be a solid 2nd or 3rd pairing defenseman too.

The Flames have now 5 x 1sts in the next 3 years is it? Draft well and the future is very bright, especially if they bottom out this season and get a top 5 pick from their own.

Devils get what they need.

To me pretty close to win win.

Honestly I think the only knock on it as why didn't the Devils get this done in season? Might have been enough to get them in the playoffs, I wonder how different the trade talks looked at that point

Oh joy! I totally missed having that after Zadorov left. At least we ain't paying Bahl 4+ AAV to do that.

He'll be an RFA with arb rights next summer so don't worry, there's still time

 

[dgibb10]

Oh man. I’m going to hate him haha. Those guy’s irrationally bug me

Statistically he also had one of the worst penalty differentials in hockey and one of the worst rates of taking penalties and they always felt like they happened at crucial moments in the 3rd (that 3rd period part may be anecdotal tho). Passing is atrocious

Good PKer tho and maybe he'll be better on a team less reliant on the rush and having dman fire accurate breakout passes

 

[JTToilinginToronto]

This is a win for the Flames, but I understand why NJ had to make the move.