Friedman: Calgary Flames have ‘high bar’ about approaching Jacob Markstrom about a move
By Ryan Pike
6 months agoSocial media was abuzz earlier this week, as ESPN’s Kevin Weekes posted a photo of Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom and an eyeball emoji. On Saturday’s edition of Headlines on Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman provided an update on what’s happening with Markstrom.
In short: not very much, because Markstrom has a full no-move clause and the Flames don’t seem to be in a hurry to ask him to waive that clause.
Here’s Friedman:
“It’s the mentors trip for the Flames and his brother is on the trip with him, so they do not want to talk about it, Calgary doesn’t, about any of the rumours flying around Markstrom. Here’s what I can tell you, though:
Number one, I don’t believe they’ve gone to him with anything, any possibility of what could happen.
Number two, he has a no-move clause, and as the birthday boy Kelly Hrudey always argues, no one with a no-move clause should be even asked if they can have it moved or be traded. From what I understand, Calgary has a very high bar here in terms of they’re not going to bother Markstrom with just anything. It would have to be something massive for them or somewhere they absolutely believe Markstrom would want to go before they would even consider going to him. So I think that’s where things stand with Markstrom and the Flames and anything right now.”
Markstrom is in the fourth year of a six-year contract with a $6 million annual cap hit and a full no-move clause. Markstrom has alternated between excellent season and less excellent seasons during his time with the Flames: he was voted the Vezina Trophy runner-up in 2021-22 and is among the NHL’s leaders in goals allowed below expected this season.
In 25 games this season, Markstrom has a 12-11-2 record with one shutout, a 2.65 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.
With two years remaining on his deal, some have floated the possibility of the Flames moving Markstrom in the event they opt to go into a rebuild or retool – if you’re paying a goalie like Markstrom $6 million per year, you’d like to have a chance to win and you’d probably want him to have a chance to win, even if it’s not with your team. (If you don’t think you’re going to be contenders, you at least owe it to Markstrom to have a conversation with him about the team’s direction)
Either way, it appears that all’s quiet on the Markstrom front. At least for now.
The Flames finish off their road trip on Saturday night against Vegas. The trade deadline is on March 8.
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