The Calgary Flames did not trade Jacob Markstrom at the trade deadline last week, which was both almost expected and a surprise at the same time.
Markstrom had been heavily rumoured to be on the move to the New Jersey Devils for weeks, but a deal never came to fruition. Reports said that it was squashed by Flames ownership through President of Hockey Operations Don Maloney, while other reports said that a deal was never close.
Regardless of the outcome, no one seems happy here. Markstrom expressed his frustration, the team expressed their desire for him to stay, and New Jersey was upset they didn’t get their guy. This is just the first part of what will be a larger story this summer.
That being said, on the most recent episode of 32 Thoughts the Podcast, Elliotte Friedman noted that the Flames may be taking a step in protecting Markstrom moving forward.
Protecting Markstrom’s health and value
Markstrom is currently day-to-day with a lower-body injury, while Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf share the crease. That could be the case for the rest of the season.
Friedman speculates that with the Flames’ defence having been gutted due to the trades of Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin, combined with Markstrom having some sort of nagging injury, Marktrom will not be playing a lot the rest of the year.
This is both to protect him from further injury and also to ensure that his value is not kiboshed as a result of a weaker team.
This also gives the organization the opportunity to give Wolf a run in the NHL prior to him returning to the AHL for playoffs. It makes a ton of sense and leaves everyone to believe that the offers the Flames were getting may not have been worthy a trade. It also may protect the team from Markstrom stealing any more games this season and give them a shot at a strong draft pick come June.
That being said, it would be sad to see Markstrom spend his last few months with the team sitting in the press box. He’s been one of the better goalies in franchise history and this isn’t how anyone wants to leave a team.
Quick notes on Hunter Brzustewicz
Friedman also took some time to talk about the singing of Hunter Brzustewicz. There were some who thought a deal would be imminent come March 1, but as it started to drag a few weeks there were many around the league that started to raise eyebrows at the Flames. Friedman insisted that this was a big deal for the Flames, as Brzustewicz was the key piece of the Lindholm deal.
He also noted that the size and amount of the deal was rare for a CHL player picked in the third round, but that is just how much Brzustewicz has earned the contract. The Flames could have someone special here.
