Will history repeat itself with a Jacob Markstrom trade?

Goalies don't tend to command a lot on the trade market and Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has a strong track record of winning trades.

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The New Jersey Devils will be very busy this off-season; at least if all goes according to GM Tom Fitzgerald’s plan.

The Devils have an abundance of items on their to-do list. They’d like to add another top-6/9 forward and additional size up front. They’re also looking ‘for something’ on defense. Oh, and they want to land a marquee starting goaltender. There’s a lot to do.

No doubt, though, the most important task is finding a No. 1 netminder once and for all. It won’t much matter what else the Devils do if they flip a coin, so to speak, in goal and it doesn’t land on the right side.

Considering all of the factors (talent, track record, cap hit, no-trade protection, etc.), I continue to believe Jacob Markstrom is the best and most likely fit for what the Devils are looking for.

And, the more I think about it, the more confident I am that the trade will probably look more underwhelming from the Flames’ perspective than the Devils’.

Goaltenders generally don’t fetch a ton on the trade market. I’m not sure a 34-year-old with a full no-movement clause will be the one to buck that trend.

It’s also said history has a way of repeating itself. Well, history tells us Fitzgerald tends to fare pretty well when he pulls off sizeable trades.

He acquired Timo Meier – the prize piece at last year’s deadline – in the midst of a 40-goal campaign. He did so without including top prospects like Simon Nemec, Seamus Casey, or Alex Holtz.

He also parted with only one unprotected 1st round pick, which turned out to be 26th overall. Quinton Musty looks like a great find there but Fitzgerald really dealt more quantity than quality to land an elite player, which is always a good thing.

Fitzgerald parlayed Ty Smith, who was on an insane downward trajectory at the time of the deal, and a 3rd round pick into John Marino.

Smith has already moved on from the Penguins’ organization so, essentially, the Devils parted with a 3rd rounder for a top-4 defenseman who has logged 21 minutes per game through two seasons with the team (and is still signed for three more). Pretty good!

There’s also the Yegor Sharangovich trade. Yeezy was given a ton of opportunity in the Flames and did a good job of taking advantage of it but calling it a loss for the Devils is revisitionist history.

Sharangovich scored three goals in 44 games to conclude the 2022-23 campaign while posting poor on-ice metrics and, at times, being taken out of the lineup.

Fitzgerald converted someone who wasn’t going to play a meaningful role for the team – and justifiably so – and a pick into a Stanley Cup winner coming off a 34-goal campaign. Tyler Toffoli followed that up with…a 33-goal campaign.

CJ Turtoro did a great job revisiting the Sharangovich trade and breaking things down. Even if you disagree with his take, there’s no denying the Sharangovich trade was a) easily justifiable and; b) looked amazing the moment it was made.

All you can do is take the info on hand and make the best possible decision, and the Toffoli trade was a great bet that didn’t necessarily work out as well as it could or should have.

At any rate, it’s clear Fitzgerald generally makes out very well when trading for impact players.

Toss in the underwhelming history for teams parting with goaltenders and it’s hard to imagine the 10th overall pick – or any truly premium asset – being tabled in a Markstrom trade.

Despite Flames GM Craig Conroy publicly declaring Markstrom never officially asked out, and doesn’t have to be traded, the reality is that Markstrom would like out and that Conroy kinda sorta has to trade him.

Conroy is using a leverage card he wouldn’t need to play if the interest level or offers were closely aligned to what he was hoping for.

As I wrote the other day, I believe the slow burn continues a while longer and ultimately ends with Fitzgerald getting his guy without including the No. 10 pick.

Time will tell if that’s the case.

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