Devils sign goaltender Jacob Markstrom to two-year extension

Mission accomplished on that front.  After allowing 281 goals in 2023-24, the Devils cut that amount by 61 last season, allowing the fifth-fewest goals in the league in the process.  Markstrom played a big role in that success, posting a 2.50 GAA and a .900 SV% in 49 regular-season starts while also putting up a 2.78 GAA and a .911 SV% in their first-round playoff exit at the hands of Carolina.  He’s not off to a great start this season, however, with a 5.13 GAA and a .830 SV% in four appearances, but he’s also just coming back from a lower-body injury.

A look at Jacob Markstrom's career

Over his 16-year career between Vancouver, Florida, Calgary and New Jersey, Markstrom has a 243-214-63 record with a 2.72 GAA,  a .908 SV%, and 24 shutouts.  He has typically been one of the more consistent goalies in recent years, providing a strong return on his current six-year contract, one that expires next summer and also carries a cap hit of $6M per season.  However, the Devils will be responsible for that full amount, unlike now, where the Flames are picking up $1.875M of Markstrom’s price tag as part of the swap.

A few months ago, New Jersey signed Allen to a five-year deal, a surprising term for someone just a few months younger than Markstrom.  But the benefit in doing so was that the cap hit came in at $1.8M, well below his market value when many expected he’d get more than twice that much per season.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Markstrom’s camp appeared to be looking for something similar, a fixed sum of money, but they were open to spreading it out over a longer term like Allen.  However, the Devils were firm on a shorter-term agreement, even though it means a higher AAV.

With this deal done, New Jersey now has their goalie tandem intact for the next couple of seasons at a combined $7.8M price tag, just 7.5% of the projected $104M Upper Limit for next season.  That’s a solid price tag for a capable and experienced tandem, giving GM Tom Fitzgerald a bit of flexibility to work with.  With this deal now done, the Devils have a little over $10M in spending room for next season, per PuckPedia, with pending RFAs Simon Nemec, Arseny Gritsyuk and Paul Cotter highlighting the list of players in need of new deals over the next ten or so months.

ESPN’s Emily Kaplan was the first to report the signing.