Flames trade goalie Jacob Markstrom to Devils for 1st-round pick, defenceman Bahl

The rumblings became reality with Wednesday's announcement that the Calgary Flames traded veteran goaltender Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils.

The Flames got 23-year-old defenceman Kevin Bahl and a 2025 first-round pick in return.

Calgary retained 31.25 per cent of Markstrom's remaining contract, which has two years left on the $36 million US deal ($6-million average annual value) he signed Oct. 9, 2020. It works out to $1.875 million annually.

Markstrom, 34, was the subject of trade rumours as Calgary (38-39-5) hovered outside playoff position for most of the 2023-24 season.

Fuelling that chatter was 23-year-old Dustin Wolf, who was twice American Hockey League's goaltender of the year, waiting in the wings and 26-year-old Dan Vladar a capable backup to Markstrom, who at the conclusion of the season said he missed more time and games than he wanted to with various injuries.

The Flames trading centre Elias Lindholm and defencemen Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin leading into the March trade deadline signalled a retooling and a youth movement afoot in Calgary.

"Today's trade demonstrates our focus on the infusion of young talented players into our roster as well as acquiring important draft capital, while maintaining our commitment as a playoff competitive team," Flames general manager Craig Conroy said Wednesday in a statement. "We thank Jacob for his professionalism and understanding of our decision to make this trade now and at this stage in his career."

Markstrom waived his contract's no-move clause to join the Devils.

"[New Jersey] has something really good going on," he said Wednesday from Sweden during a virtual media conference call.

"Most of you guys knew they made a push [for a trade] and there was a lot of talk throughout the year last year. Nothing happened there. After the season, it kind of picked up again.

Career-high 37 wins in 2021-22 season

"They really wanted me to come and it's always exciting to join a group, a team and an organization like the New Jersey Devils [which] has a lot of history. Can't wait to make it my home."

Markstrom posted a 23-23-2 record with a .905 save percentage and 2.78 goals-against average for the Flames this past season.

His best season as a Flame was 2021-22, when he recorded a career-high 37 wins, a career-best 2.22 GAA and .922 save percentage.

Markstrom led the league with nine shutouts and finished second in voting for the Vezina Trophy. He backstopped Calgary to the second round of playoffs and their longest post-season run since 2015.

"My son was born there. That's the biggest thing I will remember, but also the playoff run we had and that whole season, how good we were as a team," Markstrom said.

The goalie wasn't pleased with the public trade buzz surrounding him. Markstrom said in March "it could have been handled a lot different from up top" and repeated on his final day as a Flame in April that he didn't like the distraction.

But the goalie struck a conciliatory tone Wednesday.

"Connie called me right when it was done today and wished me good luck. There's no bad blood there," Markstrom said.

"This was a trade that Calgary liked and wanted to do. There were more teams interested, but Calgary made this trade.

"I had the last say with the no-move clause and when they agreed on the deal with Jersey, I'm super-excited to start this journey."

Career .909 save percentage

Markstrom will be coached by former Toronto Maple Leaf head coach Sheldon Keefe, who was hired by the Devils in May, and will share goaltending duties with Jake Allen.

Markstrom owns a career 215-196-57 record with a .909 save percentage and 2.73 GAA with Florida, Vancouver and Calgary since he was selected in the second round, 31st overall, by the Panthers in the 2008 NHL draft.

Bahl, who is six foot six and 230 pounds, had a goal and 11 points in 82 games with the Devils this past season.

"He is a strong defender with size who plays an assertive game with tremendous presence," Conroy said.

"He uses his body intelligently, has good mobility and makes smart puck decisions. Kevin fits our identity, and we are excited to acquire him now as he can continue to grow with our group."

Bahl has 25 points and 127 penalty minutes in 148 career games over four seasons with the Devils. He had an assist and 31 penalty minutes in 11 playoff games in 2023.

He was Arizona's second-round pick (55th overall) in 2018 before he was dealt to the Devils in December 2019.

Bahl was born in New Westminster, B.C., but grew up in Mississauga, Ont.

He played four seasons for the Ontario Hockey League's Ottawa 67's and won a gold medal with the Canadian junior men's hockey team in 2020.

Swap of underachieving players

The Los Angeles Kings acquired goaltender Darcy Kuemper from the Washington Capitals for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois in a trade of high-priced, underachieving players.

Kuemper, who has three seasons remaining on a five-year $26.25-million US contract he signed with Washington in 2022, ended up being the backup to Charlie Lindgren when the Capitals were swept in four games in the first round by the New York Rangers.

The 34-year old Kuemper appeared in 33 games with 30 starts for Washington last season. He was 13-14-3 with a 3.31 goals-against average and one shutout.

Kuemper has played for five teams during his 12-year NHL career, including the Kings. He signed with Los Angeles as a free agent in 2017 and went 10-1-3 with a 2.10 GAA in 19 games (15 starts) before being dealt to Arizona near the trade deadline in 2018.

Los Angeles, which hasn't won a playoff series since winning its second Stanley Cup title in three years in 2014, was in the market for a goaltender. Before acquiring Keumper, David Rittich was the Kings only goaltender under contract for next season.

The Kings were unlikely to make a splash for a netminder during the upcoming free agency period because of a lack of salary cap space.

Los Angeles didn't have a lot of cap room after it acquired Dubois from Winnipeg and signed him to an eight-year, $68 million contract last season. The centre struggled and had career lows for a full season in goals (16) and points (40).

'Immense potential'

Dubois, who turns 26 on Monday, was relegated to the Kings' fourth line in the playoffs, when they lost in five games in the first round to eventual Western Conference champion Edmonton.

"We are thrilled to announce the addition of Pierre-Luc to the Caps organization," Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said in a statement. "This acquisition brings in a talented 25-year-old with immense potential to become a top-tier centre in the NHL.

"With his size, exceptional skating, and high hockey IQ, we are confident he will thrive in our organization with increased responsibility and opportunity."

This will be Dubois's fourth team in eight seasons. He forced a trade to Los Angeles last year after previously telling Winnipeg he intended to become an unrestricted free agent when his contract expired after the 2023-24 season.

The Jets had acquired Dubois from Columbus in January 2021 after saying he no longer wanted to play for the Blue Jackets, who drafted him third overall in 2016.

The Capitals are hoping that Dubois returns to his previous form. He had career highs with 63 points and 36 assists in 2022-23 and has scored at least 20 goals four times.

Sharks acquire forwards Goodrow, Dellandrea

The San Jose Sharks added some needed forward depth Wednesday to complement an upcoming youth movement, claiming Barclay Goodrow off waivers from the New York Rangers and acquiring Ty Dellandrea from Dallas in a trade.

General manager Mike Grier had been seeking to add veterans at forward to help ease the transition to the NHL for the projected No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft, Macklin Celebrini, and Will Smith, who was picked fourth overall last year and recently signed an entry level contract with San Jose.

The Sharks sent a 2025 fourth-round pick originally acquired from Winnipeg to acquire Dellandrea and were willing to take on Goodrow's contract from the Rangers after he was placed on waivers Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Goodrow has been a valuable depth centre on several long playoff runs going back to San Jose's trip to the Western Conference final in 2019 when he scored an overtime goal in Game 7 of the first round against Vegas. He also played a key role on Tampa Bay's back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2020 and '21 and helped New York reach the Eastern Conference final in '22 and this postseason before losing to Florida.

The Toronto native has 169 points in 572 regular-season games and 24 more in 97 games in the playoffs since making his debut in the league in 2014.

The Sharks claiming Goodrow saves the Rangers $3.6 million against the salary cap each of the next three seasons as they look to retool after falling just short of making the Stanley Cup Final.

The 23-year-old Dellandrea played in 42 games this season for Dallas with two goals and nine points. He ranked sixth among forwards on the team with 63 hits and had the fifth-most time on the penalty kill among Stars forwards.

He scored one goal in six playoff games for Dallas this season.

Dellandrea is set to be a restricted free agent in July but the Sharks will have his arbitration rights.