Sportsnet Staff June 9, 2024, 2:36 p.m.
The goalie market will be interesting to follow this offseason, with many teams looking to make moves.
One team that will be in the spotlight is the Calgary Flames, who will have a decision to make with Jacob Markstrom. The veteran starter has two years left on his contract with a salary cap hit of $6 million.
As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, the Flames are still looking to reach a deal.
“It was crazy during the season, Calgary is trying to do it as quietly as possible. That’s not going to be easy. I mean, good luck with that this time of year,” Friedman said. “They just know what a rollercoaster it was for everyone involved, including the player and themselves, and I think they’re really trying to avoid it. But something is definitely going on.”
When it comes to potential suitors for Markstrom, Friedman mentioned three teams in particular that will look to be in talks with the Flames for Markstrom: the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators.
“In New Jersey, (GM Tom) Fitzgerald has officially said he will consider moving his 10th overall pick, and I know a lot of people are eyeing the goalposts,” Friedman said. “Toronto, and I know the deals with Toronto and Calgary are a little complicated, but the general manager in Toronto is the guy who hired Markstrom in Calgary and, just on paper, a Markstrom-(Joseph) Woll combination is a combination Really good. I look at that and say, ‘I could see why a team like Toronto would potentially be interested in that.’
“The other team that I think is in almost every goaltending conversation is Ottawa. Now, I don’t know how Markstrom feels about it, but I’m told that in every conversation involving a goalie, you have to keep Ottawa around.”
Markstrom appeared in 48 games last 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 up for a couple of seasons, Flames general manager Craig Conroy won’t be in a rush to get a deal done, but Markstrom has made it clear he wants to compete for a Stanley Cup.
Plus, 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 regain assets for Markstrom.
When the Flames’ season ended, Eric Francis wrote that Markstrom even fueled trade speculation when he simply said “I don’t know” when asked where he saw himself playing next season.
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Are the Predators optimistic that they will be able to keep Saros?
Another goaltender who will be a hot topic of conversation is Jusse Saros as he enters the final year of his contract with the Nashville Predators.
Friedman said that after a phone conversation, it appears there is motivation for Saros to stay in Nashville.
“The player wants to stay and the team wants him to stay,” Friedman said. “Everyone involved chooses to view it optimistically for that reason. The person who I think would know seemed very optimistic that Saros and the Predators would figure it out.”
Friedman reported that Saros could wait until Igor Shesterkin and the New York Rangers sign a new contract before reaching an agreement with Nashville.
Saros has one year left on a negotiated contract that comes with an AAV of $5 million, which general manager Barry Trotz said he would “work hard” to extend this summer.
If the team can’t come to terms with Saros, they have Yaroslav Askarov, the 11th overall pick in the 2020 Draft who has posted back-to-back .911 save percentage seasons in the AHL, waiting in the process.
NHL approached Beach about Quenneville and Bowman
During his state of the league address, commissioner Gary Bettman made it clear that both Joel Quenneville and Stan Bowman were ineligible to return, but that the league would have to make a decision soon on their availability.
Friedman reported that the league has reached out to Kyle Beach to see how he would feel if they were able to return. Beach is a former player who settled with the Blackhawks in December 2021 after alleging that he was sexually assaulted by then-video coach Brad Aldrich, which occurred when Quenneville was the coach and Bowman was the team’s general manager.
“This is obviously not something that anyone should guess. “I would be very cautious about reporting anything Beach had to say without talking to him first,” Friedman said. “I tried to find out if there had been any communication between Beach and the league and the league didn’t want to talk about it.
“But someone did confirm to me that there was a conversation, at least one, between Beach and the NHL, although they stressed to me that no one was going to violate what was said.”
Dillon looks to test free agency
The Winnipeg Jets could be in the market for a defenseman or two, with Brenden Dillon expected to test free agency.
“I just heard he’s leaving in free agency,” Friedman said of Dillon. “I think there were conversations between him and the Jets, and nothing is ever ruled out, but I don’t think he’ll re-sign with Winnipeg before the window opens.”
The 33-year-old appeared in 77 games last season with the Jets scoring a career-high eight goals and scored 20 points while averaging 18:44 of ice time.
He saw his playoffs cut short after suffering a deep cut on his hand that required stitches. Dillon was apparently cut by a skate blade during a scrum after the final horn of Game 3 against the Avalanche in the first round.
What will make it difficult for the Jets to retain Dillon is the possibility of stiff competition for the durable defender.
“It seems to be a very good market for a defenseman,” Friedman explained. “There are some defensemen who are really going to have great success here, and the other thing I’m also hearing is that it’s going to be a really good market for deep forwards who can play multiple spots in your lineup and play that type of game.” heavy playoff hockey game.
“So it looks like a lot of them will do pretty well with the heavy defenseman and the heavy portable forward that can go up and down your lineup.”
Marchessault in talks to stay with Golden Knights
On July 1, the clock will start ticking for the Vegas Golden Knights to try to decide what the future will be with Jonathan Marchessault.
The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner has one year left on his contract and is coming off a career-high 42 goals last season.
It appears the team wants to fix his contract soon, after Marchessault expressed frustration over the lack of talks about his future in Las Vegas.
“I don’t know if I want to use the word progress, but it’s clear from some people I heard at the combine that those conversations have at least begun,” Friedman said. “I can understand how a player gets frustrated and nervous, but teams say, ‘Look, we still have time,’ and I have the impression, based on some of the things I’ve heard, that at least the conversations have started. , and we will see where they go.”
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