The former Canucks’ goaltender, Jacob Markström, looks worth every penny of his big-money contract. So far this season he has set the Calgary Flames alight with two stunning performances against his old club, including a rare shutout.
Before moving to the Calgary Flames, Jacob Markstrom plied his trade with the Vancouver Canucks.
It has left many fans, and pundits too, wondering if this Swedish international could be enough to make Calgary a real contender in this strangest of seasons?
Calgary Flames could be a smart choice for a flutter this season. Unibet sports betting ranks them just 17th overall for the Stanley Cup and 4th favourites in the seven-team North Division. Yet at the same time, CBS Sports experts have gone on record describing Calgary as the ‘dark horse’ of the North division. If Markström works out between the sticks, then anything could happen, making Calgary well worth a punt.
The $6million man
Markström’s new contract raised more than a few eyebrows when he signed a deal worth $36m over six years. With a shortened regular season of just 56 games, that equates to more than $100,000 per game or $28 for every second he is on the ice. Nice work if you can get it, but is he worth such an impressive investment? Only time will tell.
Markström joined the NHL as part of the 2008 draft and has spent time at Florida Panthers and Calgary’s new North division rivals, Vancouver Canucks. His stats are impressive, with a 91% save rate for both his former teams, a rate that he has improved in each of his three games so far this season. He posted 91.8% against Winnipeg before his 100% clean sheet against his former club and 93.5% in their second match up a few days later.
A great start
Markström stopped 30 of 34 shots in the Flames opening day overtime loss to Winnipeg. He then bounced back, using his seven years’ experience of his former team, to register his sixth career clean sheet in the 3-0 win over the Canucks.
Even the two goals that went against him in their rematch a few days later were both deflections, with his goaltending skills in the rest of the game helping the Flames towards a 5-2 victory.
With every team in the new North division due to play each other nine or ten times in the regular season, his inside knowledge of the Canucks tricks and tactics could be worth a lot of points to the Flames.
Is it enough?
Top-quality goal minding may not be everything, but it certainly makes a difference, and it makes life a lot easier for the rest of the team. Calgary fansite, Matchsticks and Gasoline, think that might just be enough for the Flames this year. “If Markström provides elite net-minding,” says the site, “The Flames should have no problem winning this division”.
With the all-Canadian North division wide open in many analysts’ minds, Markström may yet be the Flames’ secret weapon. The man himself certainly thinks he has a lot to give. “I feel like I’ve got plenty more levels to reach and evolve and I can’t wait to do that in a Flames jersey,” he said on NHL.com after a recent game. “I think we’ve got something big going.”
By the end of the regular season on May 8th, we will know just how big that is.
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