Confirmed Signing with Link: [CGY] Jacob Markstrom signs with the Flames (6 years, $6M AAV)

[BWJM]

I miss Markstrom already. It's too bad he couldn't stay a Canuck, but frankly, the guy deserved to get paid. It's hard to say best of luck in Calgary because I am a Canucks fan after all, but I wish him well.

Same here, being someone who lives in Canucks territory there isn’t a single person I know personally who wont miss him.

It was what had to happen though unfortunately.

 

[blankall]

the entire pacific northwest is desperate for goaltending.

There are many much higher paid goalies.

 

[qwerty]

To put things in perspective on age. Lundqvist, smith, Rinne are 38 in 2020. So the 17-18 season would have been the same age that Markstrom will be in his final year.
This gives you a bit of a read about how goalies age in this era.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Markstrom the Canucks MVP for the last couple years? I read an article recently where he stole a lot of games for the Canucks while facing some of the most difficult shots in the league.

 

[ugghhh]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Markstrom the Canucks MVP for the last couple years? I read an article recently where he stole a lot of games for the Canucks while facing some of the most difficult shots in the league.

Yes, definitely.

 

[Sean Garrity]

Shoot your shot when you see em, but the truth may hurt. Could be a banger of a signing by the Flames.

 

[JT Kreider]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Markstrom the Canucks MVP for the last couple years? I read an article recently where he stole a lot of games for the Canucks while facing some of the most difficult shots in the league.

Yes, he was very good. Demko for the most part was terrible up until those last 3 games against Vegas, which is way too small of a sample size to really pencil him in as a starting goalie. He was a top prospect a year ago at this time, just below Hart, Shesterkin and Samsonov though so I still think the upside is there. Holtby was really bad this year too, I guess at the contract he got the risk is minimal, ignoring the fact Vancouver is a team on the rise and you dont want all that good work derailed by mediocre goaltending.

 

[ugghhh]

To put things in perspective on age. Lundqvist, smith, Rinne are 38 in 2020. So the 17-18 season would have been the same age that Markstrom will be in his final year.
This gives you a bit of a read about how goalies age in this era.

I think Rinne is the best comparable. He had his best years at 28, 29, 32, 35, 36. With some injury-riddled years between.
Smith was never as good as Markstrom, imo, and Lunqvist had a way bigger load from an earlier age which probably lead to an earlier decline (started trailing off around 33 or 34).

 

[Mazatt]

Fun fact, one of the Flames longest tenured starter recently has been Mike Smith for two years. This contract takes Markstrom to the age where we acquired Mike Smith, and he was vital in almost taking us to the playoffs (got injured late in the season and the Flames spiraled after that). Tell me again, how Markstrom will suck in 3 years?

 

[Deen]

My god, the Oilers are so lucky to have dodged that bullet. This is similar to when Clarkson chose Toronto over Edmonton

Nothing makes me happier than when rivals sign horrible contracts

We've been laughing at you for the last decade.

 

[aufheben]

This is exactly the point I was trying to make earlier. But again, it’s probably a huge relief for Flames fans to have a legit good starting goalie locked up long term.

Jacob Markstrom, Signed: $6 million AAV, six years

Markstrom is probably one of the better goalies available and gets the money and term requisite of that. He’s been a solid starter over the last two seasons (and private data loved his 2019-20 campaign) and $6 million is probably fine for that, but the term is dicey. That’s a long time to be committed to a goalie, a position fraught with year-to-year inconsistency

NHL free agency: 2020 projected player value tracker

 

[tmurfin]

I love this signing. It’s about time Treliving put his money down and got a real starter, these 1b’s, bandaids and goalie three ways the Flames have been dealing with for years just hasn’t worked, time to gamble, we have 2-3 more years before we’re in f***sville again anyways.

 

[Mobiandi]

This is exactly the point I was trying to make earlier. But again, it’s probably a huge relief for Flames fans to have a legit good starting goalie locked up long term.

NHL free agency: 2020 projected player value tracker

Whatever happens past year 3 or 4, it really doesn't matter.

 

[Rubi]

Incorrect. The majority of Canuck fans wanted Demko to be the eventual starter in Vancouver and were hoping that Markstrom didn’t sign the rumoured 5 year deal.
That said, his age fits better with Calgary’s core and I can see why they signed him even if imo the contract is two years too long.

It seems like the Canucks, and their fans, are putting a lot of their eggs in the Thatcher Demko basket. He has 41 games NHL experience (includes 4 playoff games) with a regular season Sv% of .906 and a GAA of 3.06
Hopefully Holtby will play better than he did last year with Washington, which has been a better team than Vancouver.
Vancouver should have re-signed Markstrom. Demko is an unknown quantity and Holtby's play has been declining for the past 3 years.

 

[Mazatt]

It seems like the Canucks, and their fans, are putting a lot of their eggs in the Thatcher Demko basket. He has 41 games NHL experience (includes 4 playoff games) with a regular season Sv% of .906 and a GAA of 3.06
Hopefully Holtby will play better than he did last year with Washington, which has been a better team than Vancouver.
Vancouver should have re-signed Markstrom. Demko is an unknown quantity and Holtby's play has been declining for the past 3 years.

Idk, I feel like, just like where the Flames are at now, they have to take an assumed risk going forward. It's risky for the Flames to sign Markstrom, and it's risky for Vancouver to let him go. There's so many ways this can go and it's all based on Demko. If he succeeds--even to be slightly worse than Markstrom, potential longevity and lower cap hit are plusses. However, if he doesn't suceed close to Markstrom's level, it will go down as one of the worst big brain plays by a GM since "Trade Rielly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault to protect Petrovic and Matheson"

 

[Rubi]

This sensationalist guy again? First he talks about the monster deal that was just market value. Then he exaggerates the buyout attributes of the contract. Buying out the contract in year 5 and 6 isn't great, but not buyout proof. Plus flames are likely rebuilding by then, so there's no need to buy him out.

I've certainly seen worse buyouts..

 

[ijuka]

I think Markström's probably quite underappreciated over here. He's played behind some brutal defenses. I don't think he was that great his first few years but he's improved quite a bit since

 

[karnige]

I think Markström's probably quite underappreciated over here. He's played behind some brutal defenses. I don't think he was that great his first few years but he's improved quite a bit since

he stood on his head a ton on the canucks. he deserved to get paid

 

[usekakkorightquinn]

It's nice to know the idiots running the Flames are wasted in the front office constantly.

 

[604]

This could be good or bad.

Markstrom came in as a cast-off, became the Canucks MVP x2 but the risk, from my perspective, is that Marky was injured twice this year.

Stated on the Canucks board that giving a goalie with his recent injury trouble a long-term contract would be scarry.

This is a risky contract due to term but the reward is a top 5 goalie in the league at a great price.

 

[Duffalufagus]

It's nice to know the idiots running the Flames are wasted in the front office constantly.

Solid contribution to the thread.

 

[bobholly39]

I don't like this signing at all. I'm not as sold on this guy as majority seems to be - and I also don't like the age to term ratio. We'll see I suppose

 

[bukwas]

Flames made a good move here.

 

[Snakepit]

So both of Calgary's goalies were in the all star game last year

 

[HyPnOtiK]

what bias? stas arent biased.

When you're holding stock on a 3 game sample size vs 50 game sample size there's definitely bias going on. In any case I don't think many would argue that Markstrom isn't the better goalie

 

[CascadiaPuck]

1) Markstrom has been the Canucks MVP the last couple seasons.
2) Would not be shocked to see Markstrom get a Vezina nom during his time with the Flames.
3) This was always going to be his chance at a big pay day.
4) The Canucks will be worse off without him (no disrespect to Holtby) and a division rival has been strengthened.
BUT...
5) Painful as it may be, I think the Canucks were correct to stick to their guns on cap hit, term, and NTC/NMC.
6) This team is still unwinding from its transitional era and isn’t likely to be crossing into contender status while EP40 and Hughes are on their entry level deals.
7) So signing a goalie for lower cap and shorter term and retaining some cap flexibility at this stage - and betting on Demko (or perhaps Dipietro) to be their answer for goaltending long term - seems constructive.
8) As we exist in a flat cap world in the near-term, that flexibility is also useful. (Of course, this is all moot if management ends up being over generous this year for contracts to players who won’t be key players when the window is truly open in a couple years.)

It’s a risk to move on from Marky (and Tanev), but it looks like a calculated risk designed to support the window for the new core. Here’s hoping it pans out.