In October 2020, former Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving signed Jacob Markström to a six-year contract, paying the Swedish netminder $6 million annually. Immediately after the ink dried on the new deal, he became one of the top ten highest-paid goalies in the league.
Interestingly, Markström had only two winning seasons on his resume at the time of the signing, which came in back-to-back campaigns in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Moreover, since coming to Calgary, he’s continued to win, producing an 82-55-23 record through 165 games while leading the Flames to a Pacific Division title in 2021-22.
Unfortunately, the Flames lost that year in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, Markström was a Vezina Trophy finalist, eventually losing out to Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers. After a career season, the expectations for 2022-23 were high, but instead of progressing, the team and their star netminder had a setback.
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Despite surrendering a career-high 166 goals, tying a mark he set in 2018-19, Markström was not the goalie fans and teammates came to rely upon as the season progressed. Eventually, he lost starts to Dan Vladar and even Dustin Wolf as the Flames tried to collect points in any way possible. Even though he gave the team a shaky performance last year, the deeper we look into the numbers, the data indicates that Markström has been one of the top netminders in the league since joining the Flames.
Markström Rankings Amongst His Peers
Goaltender’s performances are usually graded by save percentage (SV%) and goals-against average (GAA). Statistically, those numbers indicate how many pucks they save and how many goals they give up per game. If a goalie ranks high in either category and plays enough games, they usually receive award recognition for their efforts.
When we dissect Markström’s performance through three seasons as the eighth highest-paid goalie in the league, here’s a ranking for each major statistical category.
| Markström Totals | Ranking | League Leader | League Leader | |
| GP | 165 | 4th | 175 | Connor Hellebuyck |
| MINS | 9,594 | 4th | 10,284 | Connor Hellebuyck |
| W | 82 | 7th | 104 | Andrei Vasilevskiy |
| L | 55 | 8th | 76 | John Gibson |
| OTL | 23 | 2nd | 26 | John Gibson |
| GAA (min. 100 GP) | 2.59 | 15th | 2.23 | Linus Ullmark |
| SV% (min. 100 GP) | .907 | 8th | .926 | Linus Ullmark |
| SH | 4,457 | 5th | 5,454 | Connor Hellebuyck |
| SV | 4,043 | 5th | 4,992 | Connor Hellebuyck |
| GA | 414 | 5th | 473 | John Gibson |
| SO | 13 | 2nd | 16 | Ilya Sorokin |
Outside of his GAA and SV% numbers, Markström has proven that he is a bona fide number-one goalie in the league who can carry the workload of a contending team. Of course, those who question his abilities to be a top performer need to only look at Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets as a comparison.
Besides winning the Vezina Trophy in 2019-20, Hellebuyck has been unable to lead the Jets deeper than the second round since signing a six-year deal worth $37 million in July 2018. As the NHL’s number one workhorse, appearing in over 60 games during the last four full seasons, his ability to play so much is the only reason the team qualifies for the playoffs. However, the workload usually catches up to him, and the Jets bow out of the postseason early.
Ultimately, there is no comparison of statistics between Markström and Hellebuyck. Instead, this discussion highlights how similar these two netminders have been over the last three seasons. As two anchors on Canadian-based teams who want to break the country’s 30-year Stanley Cup drought, the numbers show that carrying contending teams up the mountain is exhausting.
Markström Unravels During 2022-23 Season
Of course, when a netminder is paid $6 million, they should never post numbers like .892 SV% or a 2.92 GAA. Unfortunately, that was Markström’s statistics during the 2022-23 season, leaving many to wonder if he’s capable of living up to the expectations of the deal. In fairness, in 2021-22, he played a career-high 63 games and another 12 in the playoffs.
Realistically, the team dynamics changed in the previous offseason, and it could be argued that the Flames were not as strong heading into the 2023-23 campaign. Nevertheless, if Markström was tired or unsure of himself after a traumatic loss to the Edmonton Oilers, his performance did all the talking. Ultimately, fans should expect a sharper netminder in 2023-24.
After having extra time off to sort himself out, Markström can start the new campaign with a clean slate and a strong performance, which can ease doubts about his ability to maintain his place in the crease. Considering there are new coaches and new voices in the dressing room, he may benefit the most from the change.
Related: Flames’ Markstrom One of Many High-Paid Goalies Struggling
Since signing his six-year contract, Markström has yet to deliver a Stanley Cup title to Calgary. However, he’s been a solid goalie who continuously ranks among the best at his position. Thus far, the second year of this deal has been his best, but fans can only imagine if he matches or supersedes those numbers in the next three years. Ultimately, if everyone plays to their potential, the Flames are legitimate contenders, and their hopes lie with their Swedish netminder, who has proven to be a top-ten player in the NHL.