Take this for what you will: Via TSN 1260 Edmonton’s Jason Gregor and NHL.com/InGoal guru Kevin Woodley, and posted via my Twitter pals Mike “The Vyrus,” Ryan Hana and the excellent Winged Wheel Podcast…
This hit the wires while I was taking my pre-game nap:
"I'm hearing, if he goes to market, the Red Wings are looking to make a big pitch for Markstrom. I wonder if they give Markstrom his ask of $6m how it would impact others after Lehner signed for $5m in Vegas." Woodley.
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) September 21, 2020
Markstrom is 30, and the 6’6,” 206-pound goaltender posted a 2.73 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage over the course of 44 games, going 23-16-and-4, all while earning $4 million on a $3.66 million cap hit. He went 8-5-and-1 in the bubble as well…
I’m not sure that the Red Wings need to spend $6 million on a goaltender when they have Bernier emerging as a starter, but having a platoon system of Markstrom and Bernier as 1A/1B is intriguing to me.
Woodley doesn’t screw around when it comes to rumors, and he’s Vancouver-based, so this is a reliable tip.
Very conflicted.. It seems like he’d for sure be in a spot to steal games the wings wouldn’t otherwise win (based on this year’s performance)… but is that a good thing right now? I really want to see us not lose so many games.. but I also don’t want to see us just end up as a playoff bubble team with no realistic shot who doesn’t get a great draft pick.