Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom is expected to be one of the more sought-after players on the trade market this offseason.
And while there’s likely to be a strong market for Markstrom, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believes the Toronto Maple Leafs could emerge as a dark-horse candidate to trade for the 34-year-old Swede.
“A couple of other teams I wonder about there too…Toronto,” Friedman said. “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. I look at that, and I say, ‘I could see why a team like Toronto would be interested in that potentially.’”
Goaltending is arguably Toronto’s biggest weakness.
During the postseason, the Leafs’ inconsistency in net was a contributing factor to their first-round playoff series loss to the Boston Bruins. The team won both games started by Joseph Woll (who missed significant time this season with multiple injuries) but went 1-4 in games with Ilya Samsonov between the pipes.
There was also a stark contrast between Woll’s numbers and Samsonov’s. The 25-year-old Woll had a 0.86 goals-against average and .964 save percentage, while the 27-year-old Samsonov allowed 3.01 goals per game with an .896 save percentage.
Adding a veteran of more than a decade like Markstrom would certainly help Toronto stabilize its goaltending issue. Although the optics of his 23-23-2 record last season isn’t great, Markstrom did post a 2.78 goals-against average and .905 save percentage in 2023.
If traded to a team like the Maple Leafs, Markstrom would likely serve in a 1A-1B role while splitting starts with Woll.
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