Welcome to our countdown of the top Calgary Flames news stories of 2024, where we will be counting down our most-read stories of the year in the days leading up to 2025.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>
Jacob Markstrom was only property of the Flames for the first six months of 2024, but man, they were eventful.
At the end of January, his close friend Elias Lindholm was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, functionally waving the white flag on the Flames&#8217; contention window – for now – and beginning their sell-off. As the trade deadline loomed and the Flames were reportedly taking offers on their pending unrestricted free agents, reports start to bubble up regarding the potential availability of Markstrom, who still had two seasons left on his contract.
While the Flames were on a road trip on the east coast in late February, Sportsnet&#8217;s Elliotte Friedman dropped a bombshell during a Headlines segment: <a href="https://flamesnation.ca/news/friedman-flames-and-devils-had-legit-conversations-about-jacob-markstrom">the Flames had engaged in &#8220;legit conversations&#8221; with New Jersey regarding Markstrom</a>. That revelation threw gasoline on a situation that the Flames were undoubtedly hoping to deal with quietly, leading to Markstrom&#8217;s future in Calgary becoming a gigantic talking point for the remainder of the season, with Markstrom looking visibly frustrated when speaking with the media about his future.
On the Mar. 4 edition of the DFO Rundown podcast – the Monday prior to the Mar. 8 trade deadline – Daily Faceoff&#8217;s Frank Seravalli explained what happened to prevent Markstrom&#8217;s move to the Garden State:
<blockquote>“I don’t think Jacob Markstrom’s issue with the Flames’ front office is at all with Craig Conroy,” Seravalli said. “My understanding, and this is a belief I’ve had for three weeks or a month now, is that the Flames and Devils had agreed to a trade on Markstrom. They had gone to Markstrom and said, ‘We’re thinking about trading you to New Jersey, what are your thoughts?’ He gave them the green light. I don’t know if he actually had a piece of paper in front of him or not. But the two sides, I believe, had agreed in principle to a trade, and then above Craig Conroy — so, if you’re reading between the lines and picking up what I’m putting down here — Don Maloney, on behalf of ownership, is believed to have nixed this trade.
“I think Markstrom’s frustration is, ‘You asked me if I would waive, I said yes, then you don’t trade me?’ And then you determine after the fact that you’re not going to trade me, or you’ve told people that you’re not going to trade me. I could understand why that would be disappointing. And I think from Markstrom’s perspective, he’s a really competitive guy. He wants a chance to win. He doesn’t want to sit here and languish — not to say that’s going to end up happening, because I do think they’ll trade him in the summer, and it makes sense because there’ll probably be four or five teams that’ll be in the mix for Markstrom.”</blockquote>
Markstrom was not traded before the trade deadline and finished off the season with Calgary. He did end up being traded to New Jersey after all in June, with Kevin Bahl and a conditional first-round draft pick going to the Flames.
<a href="https://flamesnation.ca/news/seravalli-don-maloney-nixed-markstrom-trade-with-new-jersey-on-behalf-of-flames-ownership">You can read the full story by clicking here</a>, and be sure to tune in each day until Dec. 31 for the rest of our countdown!

Welcome to our countdown of the top Calgary Flames news stories of 2024, where we will be counting down our most-read stories of the year in the days leading up to 2025.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>
Jacob Markstrom was only property of the Flames for the first six months of 2024, but man, they were eventful.

At the end of January, his close friend Elias Lindholm was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, functionally waving the white flag on the Flames' contention window – for now – and beginning their sell-off. As the trade deadline loomed and the Flames were reportedly taking offers on their pending unrestricted free agents, reports start to bubble up regarding the potential availability of Markstrom, who still had two seasons left on his contract.

While the Flames were on a road trip on the east coast in late February, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman dropped a bombshell during a Headlines segment: <a href="https://flamesnation.ca/news/friedman-flames-and-devils-had-legit-conversations-about-jacob-markstrom">the Flames had engaged in "legit conversations" with New Jersey regarding Markstrom</a>. That revelation threw gasoline on a situation that the Flames were undoubtedly hoping to deal with quietly, leading to Markstrom's future in Calgary becoming a gigantic talking point for the remainder of the season, with Markstrom looking visibly frustrated when speaking with the media about his future.

On the Mar. 4 edition of the DFO Rundown podcast – the Monday prior to the Mar. 8 trade deadline – Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli explained what happened to prevent Markstrom's move to the Garden State:
<blockquote>“I don’t think Jacob Markstrom’s issue with the Flames’ front office is at all with Craig Conroy,” Seravalli said. “My understanding, and this is a belief I’ve had for three weeks or a month now, is that the Flames and Devils had agreed to a trade on Markstrom. They had gone to Markstrom and said, ‘We’re thinking about trading you to New Jersey, what are your thoughts?’ He gave them the green light. I don’t know if he actually had a piece of paper in front of him or not. But the two sides, I believe, had agreed in principle to a trade, and then above Craig Conroy — so, if you’re reading between the lines and picking up what I’m putting down here — Don Maloney, on behalf of ownership, is believed to have nixed this trade.

“I think Markstrom’s frustration is, ‘You asked me if I would waive, I said yes, then you don’t trade me?’ And then you determine after the fact that you’re not going to trade me, or you’ve told people that you’re not going to trade me. I could understand why that would be disappointing. And I think from Markstrom’s perspective, he’s a really competitive guy. He wants a chance to win. He doesn’t want to sit here and languish — not to say that’s going to end up happening, because I do think they’ll trade him in the summer, and it makes sense because there’ll probably be four or five teams that’ll be in the mix for Markstrom.”</blockquote>
Markstrom was not traded before the trade deadline and finished off the season with Calgary. He did end up being traded to New Jersey after all in June, with Kevin Bahl and a conditional first-round draft pick going to the Flames.

<a href="https://flamesnation.ca/news/seravalli-don-maloney-nixed-markstrom-trade-with-new-jersey-on-behalf-of-flames-ownership">You can read the full story by clicking here</a>, and be sure to tune in each day until Dec. 31 for the rest of our countdown!

Recent articles from Ryan Pike

Breaking News