NHL Trade Rumors: 2 Goalies Now Pulled Off The Trade Market

Thursday, February 29, 2024 , ,


For the second time this week, a major goaltender has been pulled off the trade market. Following on a report from late Wednesday night that the Minnesota Wild will officially not be moving veteran netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, the Calgary Flames have now changed their tune on Jacob Markstrom, and pulled him off the market as well.

Insider Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period says the reasoning behind the turn of events is that the Flames "want to send the right message to the team." This would make sense, with the team just five points back of a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, on a four-game win streak. 

On the other hand, it's a curious explanation, as they'll now be without one of their top defensemen going forward, after trading Chris Tanev to Dallas, so one could question just exactly what kind of a "message" that is sending to the team... And of course, top blueliner Noah Hanifin is expected to be the next one out the door before next week's trade deadline. Again... a conflict of messaging, perhaps?

Markstrom and Fleury off the trade market

As for the Wild, they and Fleury have decided that no matter what happens in their next four games, they will not be trading the 20-year veteran and former Vezina Trophy-winner, who has expressed his desire to remain in Minneapolis. “This is my team," said the 39-year-old.

The Wild are just one point back of the Flames, only six points out of a playoff spot. They'd like to give it a run.

That leaves teams searching for help between the pipes with a much more limited selection to pick from, and certainly bumps up significantly the trade value of names such as Juuse Saros, Jake Allen, Kaapo Kahkonen and Elvis Merklikins. And it leaves a team like the New Jersey Devils—who thought they had a deal done for Markstrom earlier this month—scrambling. 

Photo credit: mark6mauno, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons




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