New Jersey Devils Options on the Goalie Market Dwindling

The New Jersey Devils have a goalie problem. It started long before the start of the 2023-24 season. It can be traced back to when Corey Crawford signed with the team and retired right before training camp before the 2020-21 campaign. The Devils have been looking for a number-one goalie ever since that point.

New Jersey thought they had found a solution with Vitek Vanecek; however, he has dressed for the Devils this season. Akira Schmid was a playoff sensation a year ago, but teams started to figure him out. Now Schmid is back in the minors working on his game—something the team always wanted for him.

General manager Tom Fitzgerald made that clear at the beginning of the season as he tried to add depth to that position so Schmid could develop properly. With the emergence of Nico Daws, the Devils can allow Schmid to develop into the starting goalie in the future potentially. And while Daws is playing well for the Devils, fans need to pump the break of him being the future of this team.

Maybe Daws will be that guy one day, but for right now, he is a temporary solution the Devils hope to solve at the March 8th NHL Trade Deadline or in the off-season.

Speaking of the off-season, go back to this past summer when Tom Fitzgerald had a chance to get a number one goalie. He could not execute a trade for Connor Hellebuyck or Juuse Saros. The asking prices were high, and there were some players and prospects the team did not want to part with.

Fast forward to today, and we are about six weeks out from the NHL Trade Deadline. The options for the Devils on who they can acquire on March 8th are starting to dwindle.

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True Number Ones

John Gibson

Obviously, the Anaheim Ducks have been in a constant rebuilding phase. John Gibson’s name continues to be out in the rumour mill. The Devils have been connected to Gibson. And who can forget the performance Gibson put on in two periods of play when the Ducks visited the Devils back in December?

Gibson has a record of 8-18 with a 3.06 GAA and a .901 save percentage. These are not great numbers, but the offense is up, and the average save percentage is around .910 now. He continues to see tons of shots each night. However, he has the pedigree to help the Devils win in the playoffs.

The issue is Gibson still has three more seasons at $6.4 million after this one. Teams are going to want Anaheim to retain his salary. That will increase the price for Gibson. The price is high already to get him, but retention adds value. Gibson has a modified no-trade clause and will decide where he goes.

Jacob Markstrom

Another name that was out there is Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames. The Flames are back in the playoffs, and general manager Craig Conroy has yet to approach his goaltender about waiving his no-movement clause.

Markstrom has played well for the Flames. He is finding his groove again. He had five wins in his last six games. He was averaging a .936 save percentage and 2.16 goals against average. Markstrom has a 2.59 GAA and a .912 save percentage for the Flames this season.

The issue with Markstrom is that he is injury-prone. He has a salary cap hit of $6 million for the remainder of this season and two more seasons after that. Again, the price is high to get him, and a team like the New Jersey Devils, who need a goalie, will need the Flames to retain him.

Juuse Saros

A target in the summer was Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros. Saros and Predators have had a rocky road. There was talk he wanted out, and he still may. However, general manager Barry Trotz will look to re-sign the goaltender moving forward.

However, that will all come down to the offer Barry Trotz gets. For him to move Saros, it will be an offer he can’t refuse. And that offer is not just a bunch of first-round draft picks, either. It starts with a top prospect and a player on the roster with potential. For example, the Devils had not considered this, but the package might start with a Seamus Casey-type player and maybe one of Alexander Holtz or Dawson Mercer.

Again, the Devils will have to give up something to get something. Saros has a year on his deal at $5 million. He is the reason why the Predators are where they are in the standings, with a 2.97 GAA and .902 save percentage.

The Best of the Rest

The rest of the goalies potentially the Devils could trade for are Kaapo Kähkönen, Jake Allen, Mackenzie Blackwood (whom the Devils traded to San Jose), and one or two others, but are those upgrades to what they have now?

The best option is for Vitek Vanecek to find his game, Nico Daws to continue to fill in the gaps, and the New Jersey Devils to play better defence.