Trade Involving Flames and Devils Completed After Condition is Met

If the Calgary Flames knew how good they would be this year, perhaps they would not have traded Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils.

That being said, things worked out for the team as rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf has had an amazing season, posting a 27-16-8 record, a .909 save percentage, and a 2.63 goals-against-average.

Be comparison, Markstrom has a 26-15-6 record, an .899 save percentage, and a 2.53 goals-against-average.

Technically, the Flames remain in the playoff race although they need to go 3-0-0 to end the season, and would need some help from the Blues to boot.

Who knows, maybe if they had kept Markstrom that would have been enough to top the scales in their favor, but the numbers speak for themselves.

Regardless, the trade involving Markstrom is officially finalized now as the key condition surrounding the first-round pick sent to the Flames as part of the return.

The pick was top-ten protected, and with the Devils securing a playoff spot their pick is guaranteed to fall outside the top-ten, so it will be moved to Calgary.

Unfortunately for the Flames, the 2025 NHL draft class is not considered to be particularly deep, so their is a good chance that they will not end up with the kind of prospect they were hoping for should the Devils go on a deep run in the playoffs.

That being said, the organization seems to be much closer to the playoffs than they were expecting coming into the season, so there is certainly less urgency for the team to find difference makers in the draft.

Notably though, the team also owns Florida's first round pick in the draft but that one is even more likely to come at the end of the round as the Panthers look to make three consecutive Stanley Cup finals appearances.

Calgary's own first round pick in the 2025 draft was traded to the Canadiens in 2022 as part of the Sean Monahan trade.