Amid the busy season for trades in the NHL, the Florida Panthers have made yet another move, their third in the past 24 hours and second for a goaltender.
The Panthers acquired goalie Jacob Markstrom from the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, along with forward Angus Crookshank, in exchange for forward Evan Rodrigues, forward Jesper Boqvist and defenseman Ben Steeves.
Late Monday, the Panthers picked up goalie Akira Schmid in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, and earlier in the day Florida traded the rights to A.J. Greer to the Ducks, acquiring the rights to Radko Gudas.
“Jacob is an established veteran leader in this league who possesses size and a relentless drive to win,” general manager Bill Zito said in a news release. “We are excited for him to compete alongside our established group and return to South Florida.”
Markstrom, the 6-foot-6, 207-pound goaltender, is no stranger to the Panthers’ organization. He was drafted by Florida in 2008 as the No. 31 pick. The Gavle, Sweden, native then spent four seasons (2010-11 through 2013-14) with Florida, mostly as a backup. He saw the most action in his third season with the franchise, when he started 23 games, and posted a 3.22 goals against average and .901 save percentage.
After his fourth season with Florida, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, where he stayed for the longest stretch of his NHL career. He spent seven seasons with the organization, spending the first few easing in before becoming the Canucks’ primary option in net.
His role as an established and go-to starter continued in Calgary, where he signed a six-year, $36 million contract with the Flames as a free agent in October 2020. He stayed there for four seasons, where he emerged yet again as a prominent goaltender.
Finally, he landed with the Devils, where he spent the past two seasons. Last year, he logged 23 wins in 44 games played and posted a 3.07 goals against average and .883 save percentage.
This addition, coupled with the trade for Schmid that sent a 2028 third-round pick to Vegas, seems to send soon-to-be free agent goalie Sergei Bobrovsky — who bolstered Florida in its three runs to the Stanley Cup Finals — out of South Florida.
Crookshank is very early in his NHL career and has yet to see much action. He was the Ottawa Senators’ fifth-round selection in 2018, and he played his first season with them in 2023. The 26-year-old played in 21 games for the Senators in his two seasons, logging four points. Last year, in his sole season with the Devils, he saw action in eight games and netted a goal.
He spent most of the season in the AHL with the Utica Comets, where he played 60 games and paced the team with 24 goals.