Jacob Markstrom has immense respect for how his teammates have handled all the trade deadline chatter surrounding him, but he’s not terribly impressed with Calgary Flames management. During an interview on Friday, Markstrom was asked if he’s parked the idea of him being traded and if he plans to continue with the Flames past March 8th. In response, he thanked his teammates but took at shot at the guys “up top.”
Markstrom noted, “The whole situation and everything, am I happy about that? No I’m not. And I think it could have been handled a lot different from up top”. Trade talk has surrounded Markstrom over the past few weeks, with buzz he might be on the move. The New Jersey Devils are said to be very interested, with a recent report from Pierre LeBrun that they haven’t given up hope on acquiring him over the next few days.
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LeBrun wrote in an article for the Athletic on Friday:
After a failed trade attempt a few weeks ago, I’m told New Jersey reached out again to the Calgary Flames this week to say it was still interested in the 34-year-old netminder. And in fact, I believe the Devils are now willing to make that trade without the Flames having to retain salary, which was a sticking point last time around (or at least the asset cost on retaining salary was).
source – ‘LeBrun rumblings: Golden Knights vs. Oilers in the forward trade market, latest on Devils-Markstrom, more’ – Pierre LeBrun – The Athletic – 03/01/2024
Markstrom Just Wants This Talk to End
The belief is that Markstrom waived his no-trade and was willing to join the Devils. Somehow that deal fell apart, the assumption that it was over retained salary. Of course, now the talk is out there and all anyone wants to ask Markstrom is about possibly being traded. All this while the team is hanging on to their playoff hopes and playing fairly well.
It sounds like Markstrom either just wants to be moved or told he’s not being traded. The focus should be on hockey, whether he’s playing it for the Devils or the Flames and the more speculation that surrounds the roster, including himself, the more it’s becoming a distraction. It sounds like Markstrom believes this was all avoidable and he’s not impressed at how this was handled.
Some blame the media, thinking they didn’t need to make such a story out of trade chatter. But, it’s clear there is a story there and the Flames chose not to address it.
