While the New Jersey Devils underachieved as a whole last season, there is one area that fans have been begging to be upgraded for quite some time now. Former General Manager Tom Fitzgerald attempted to rectify the gap by bringing in Jacob Markstrom in a trade with Calgary. The move forged a veteran pair between him and Jack Allen giving the Devils experience in goal. It was also seen as a transaction that could improve the team if Markstrom could consistently maintain the same high level of play
that he demonstrated in his last season behind a bad Flames team.
Well…that never happened.
In his first season coming over, Markstrom struggled at times, but a few strong streaks of play saw him finish with a .900 save percentage (behind “backup” Jake Allen) in 49 games. This past season, Markstrom’s play, as we have discussed before, fell off of a cliff. In 43 starts and 44 overall appearances, his save percentage plummeted to an .883, which was a better final number than it was at many points during the season. Additionally out of 59 goalies to appear in at least 25 games, Markstrom was 50th in goals saves above expected. Simply put, Markstrom wasn’t stopping shots to help the team win games.
So how can the Devils possibly get out of this? Well, that’s where this gets slightly tricky, but still doable.
PuckPedia has the buyout information from the current CBA listed on a single page of their website. To summarize what is important for today’s point, the first buyout window opens either on June 15th or 48 hours after the final game of the Stanley Cup Finals, whichever happens later. In the case of the Markstrom Problem, this window is inconsequential: his new deal does not begin until July 1st, meaning the Devils cannot buy out a contract that hasn’t started yet.
Teams can gain a second buyout window, but it is only available if certain conditions are met. For a team to become eligible for the second window, they must have a player file for salary arbitration. Regardless of if the case is settled of awarded, teams going through this process gain a 48 hour period where they can again buy players out. The Devils have seven players who are eligible for arbitration, although five of them are in the minors, so there may not be as much to deliberate with their next deals. The two NHL players, however, could allow this window to open.
Arseny Gritsyuk and Paul Cotter both have arbitration rights this summer. All it would take is one of them going to arbitration, the team settling it after Markstrom’s new deal kicks in, and then they theoretically should be able to buy him out. If new General Manager Sunny Mehta is truly trying to improve this team, he doesn’t even really need to disagree with Grits and Cotter about what they’re worth. He just needs one of them to file. Is it maybe somewhat cutthroat? Sure, but at the same time Mehta is going to try to make his mark on the team and shape it into his own vision. If that means making necessary moves to cut an unnecessary anchor off the boat, then unfortunately so be it. Markstrom will still get his money, and the Devils will add by subtracting.
This would still require the Devils to go out and find another goaltender to pair with Allen, and the free agent market isn’t exactly looking promising. At the same time, almost everyone on that list has a higher save percentage than Markstrom, so could it really be worse? Internal promotions are also an option, and again, could they be any worse? The Devils need to get a better solution in net if they want to truly make the noise this core was supposed to be making. If it takes a Golden Knights-esque type move to bring the team back to relevance, I will take that over squandering more years not competing.
What are your thoughts on the Devils trying to get Jacob Markstrom’s next contract off the books? Do you feel as though the league would try to step in and negate this? Do you think it’s a wise or unwise decision to get Markstrom off the books via second buyout window? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!
