Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa is heading north of the border after agreeing to a deal with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The goaltending market will be interesting to follow this off-season, with many teams looking to make moves.
One team that will be the centre of attention is the Calgary Flames, who will have a decision to make with Jacob Markstrom. The veteran starter has two years remaining on his deal with a $6 million cap hit.
As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, the Flames are still looking to get a deal done.
“It was so crazy during the season, Calgary is trying to do this as quietly as possible. That’s not going to be easy. I mean, good luck with that at this time of the year,” Friedman said. “They just know what a roller-coaster it was for everybody involved, including the player and themselves, and I think they’re really, really trying to avoid it. But there’s definitely something going on.”
When it comes to potential suitors for Markstrom, Friedman mentioned three teams in particular who will look to be in talks with the Flames for Markstrom in the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators.
“New Jersey, (GM Tom) Fitzgerald’s on record as saying he will consider moving his 10th overall pick, and I know a lot of people are looking at in goal,” Friedman said. “Toronto, and I know deals with Toronto and Calgary are kind of complicated, but the GM in Toronto is the guy who signed Markstrom in Calgary and, just on paper, a Markstrom-[Joseph] Woll combination is a pretty good combination. I look at that and I say, ‘I could see why a team like Toronto would be interested in that, potentially.’
“The other team that I think is in on almost every goalie conversation is Ottawa. Now, I don’t know how Markstrom feels about that, but I was told every conversation that involves a goalie, you have to have Ottawa around it.”
Markstrom appeared in 48 games this past season with the Flames, posting a 23-23-2 record with a 2.78 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
With Markstrom still locked in for a couple of seasons, Flames general manager Craig Conroy won’t be in a rush to make a deal but Markstrom has made it clear he wants to compete for a Stanley Cup.
Also, Dustin Wolf is knocking on the door, and Dan Vladar is under contract for another season in Calgary, so the team has more incentive to get assets back for Markstrom.
When the Flames’ season ended, Eric Francis wrote that Markstrom even fuelled trade speculation when he simply said “I don’t know” when asked where he saw himself playing next season.