The trade that happened yesterday just set the price for a goaltender this summer. The New Jersey Devils traded for Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom, they gave up a first-round pick in 2025 and defenseman Kevin Bahl. Markstrom has two years left on his contract at a $6 million cap hit, of which 31.25 percent will be retained by Calgary.
It's likely that Nashville and Boston will try to use the price paid by New Jersey for Markstrom to get even more for Juuse Saros on the Nashville side and Linus Ullmark on the Buffalo Sabres side. Markstrom is the oldest goalie of them and has the longest contract. Just because of the risk of age and the cap hit that Markstrom carries, New Jersey successfully put down the prices to upgrade their weakest position. But there's no such thing for Saros and Ullmark.
If Detroit chooses to shop a proven starter in the net, it will have to pay the same price or more. Despite having Husso and Lyon in the net, they really need someone who can handle an entire season. If they are not able to shop a top goalie, the Red Wings will probably get games out of both goaltenders next season, but it isn't all clear who's going to be the real number one. Any upgrades in net have always come down to the cost, which just rose with Wednesday's trade. The price for a goalie upgrade must match the expected gain from such a move.
It makes sense for the Devils to sell some draft picks to fill their urgent need in net, but the Red Wings have to consider if this is a good solution for only one issue. This doesn't mean that Detroit won't check and call other GMs for upgrades in net. In conclusion, the Markstrom trade just set the price for goalies and if the Red Wings want a goalie upgrade, they'll have to pay the price too.
