Maple Leafs speculated to be interested in Jacob Markstrom – is it feasible?

The Calgary Flames have tried to trade goaltender Jacob Markstrom in the past and this offseason could once again be looking to move the veteran netminder. Turns out the Maple Leafs could be involved.

Familiarity always plays a big role in NHL transactions and on a recent episode of 32 Thoughts the podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently linked the Leafs to the Flames goaltender and cited Markstrom’s relationship with Brad Treliving as one of the many factors that could be in play.

“A couple of other teams I wonder about there, too, anybody looking for a goalie, but a couple of teams I wonder about: Toronto, and I know deals with Toronto and Calgary are kind of complicated, but the GM in Toronto is the guy who signed Markstrom in Calgary and, just on paper, a Markstrom-[Joseph] Woll combination is a pretty good combination. So, I look at that and I say, ‘I could see why a team like Toronto would be interested in that, potentially.”

Friedman also connected Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators, two teams who appear to be looking for upgrades in net this summer.

Markstrom has all the say in his future as he holds a full no-movement clause, so that’s certainly one hurdle to consider in any trade. The Swedish netminder is 34 years old and has two seasons left on his current contract, the one he signed with Treliving as Flames’ GM in 2020.

Markstrom owns a $6 million cap hit, and last season posted a 23-23-2 record to go along with his 2.78 goals-against average (GAA) and .905 save percentage (Sv.%). His last two seasons haven’t been stellar as the Flames netminder hasn’t won more than 23 games in either and in 2022-23, he posted a .892 Sv.%. For comparison’s sake, Ilya Samsonov won 23 games last season and his .890 Sv.% basically has him being run out of town.

Markstrom’s career-best season came back three years ago when he posted a 37-15-9 record, along with a 2.22 GAA and .922 Sv.%. Leafs fans should be hopeful if any deal goes down between the two clubs, the veteran backstop is able to get back to this level of production. There’s certainly a level of risk involved in this trade target based on Markstrom’s past two seasons, his $6 million cap hit and the fact he turns 35 in early 2025. Treliving would like to make an upgrade in goal and management has preached that ‘everything is on the table’, so there’s certainly a chance the Leafs GM circles back to his previous starter in Calgary.

Toronto has $18.8 million in cap space to work this offseason, and the team could have an interest in bringing back several pending free agents, including Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi. Bringing back both forwards will eat up a big chunk of the money. Adding Markstrom and his $6 million price tag could mean Treliving needs to move out a contract in the trade.

At this point, it’s hard to say what Flames GM Craig Conroy is looking for in return for Markstrom, as even though Conroy was close to moving Markstrom to the Devils last season, the details of the trade were not known publicly.

The Maple Leafs currently have Woll signed with one year left on his contract. The 25-year-old owns a very affordable cap hit of $766,667 and is certainly someone Treliving is looking to be a big part of the team next season. After Toronto’s season ended, Martin Jones made it known he’d be open to returning to the Leafs, which could be a route management considers if they aren’t able to find Woll a tandem partner via trade.