Jacob Markstrom is finally going to the Devils after months of New Jersey trying to trade for him.
The Devils acquired Markstrom from Calgary on Wednesday, adding the goaltender they hope will solve their problems in net that contributed to missing the playoffs. They sent 6-foot-6, 23-year-old defenseman Kevin Bahl and a top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick to the Flames for Markstrom, who waived his no-movement clause to facilitate the deal.
General manager Tom Fitzgerald attempted to get Markstrom before the trade deadline. Talks resumed in recent weeks and reached the finish line with the 34-year-old signing off on the move from a rebuilding team to a contender.
“Always you look at the hockey perspective, like do you feel like the team can win? And when that’s a yes, everything else comes pretty easy,” Markstrom said on a video call with reporters from his native Sweden. “Obviously New Jersey and Tom really made a push for me, and when somebody wants you to come play for that team, it makes you feel good. It doesn’t take much more than that for me to get excited and want to jump on the ship and be a part of it and hopefully sail it in the right direction.”
New Jersey made the playoffs and reached the second round in 2022-23, which was supposed to be the start of a run of success. But a team save percentage of .896, ranked in the bottom five in the NHL, cost coach Lindy Ruff his job and contributed to falling out of contention.
Fitzgerald traded for Jake Allen on deadline day in March as a last-ditch effort and at the time foreshadowed adding another veteran goalie to serve as the Devils' tandem next season. Markstrom is that guy at a reduced price of $4.125 million over the next two years with the Flames retaining 31.25% — $1.875 million — annually.
“I think Jake is a great goalie, and I can’t wait to work with him and try to win as many games as possible,” Markstrom said, adding he understands what's being asked of him. “You want to be that difference-maker, which as a goalie you have a chance to do that every night. I think that challenge, that’s what gets me up every morning.”
Markstrom joins his fourth organization after being drafted and debuting for Florida, coincidentally at New Jersey in what is his new home arena, and spending time with Vancouver and Calgary. And while their Battle of Alberta rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, play in the Stanley Cup Final, the Flames continued their teardown that has included the departures of Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau, Tyler Toffoli and Noah Hanifin in recent years.
GM Craig Conroy said the trade “demonstrates our focus on the infusion of young talented players into our roster as well as acquiring important draft capital, while maintaining our commitment as a playoff competitive team.” He said Calgary had long identified Bahl as a priority in making the trade.
“He is a strong defender with size who plays an assertive game with tremendous presence,” Conroy said. “While his 6-6, 230 pound frame is an imposing asset, he uses his body intelligently, has good mobility and makes smart puck decisions. Kevin fits our identity, and we are excited to acquire him now as he can continue to grow with our group.”
AP Sports Writer Tom Canavan contributed to this report.
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FILE - Artwork of Johnny Cash adorns the mask of Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom as he watches the action during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver, British Columbia, March 23, 2024. The New Jersey Devils have agreed to acquire Markstrom in a trade with the Flames, a person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press. It was not immediately clear what they were giving up. The Devils have been looking for a goalie and targeting Markstrom for quite some time. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, file)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is putting the Environmental Protection Agency’s air pollution-fighting “good neighbor” plan on hold while legal challenges continue, the conservative-led court’s latest blow to federal regulations.
The justices in a 5-4 vote on Thursday rejected arguments by the Biden administration and Democratic-controlled states that the plan was cutting air pollution and saving lives in 11 states where it was being enforced and that the high court’s intervention was unwarranted.
The rule is intended to restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution. It will remain on hold while the federal appeals court in Washington considers a challenge to the plan from industry and Republican-led states.
The Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, has increasingly reined in the powers of federal agencies, including the EPA, in recent years. The justices have restricted the EPA’s authority to fight air and water pollution — including a landmark 2022 ruling that limited the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming. The court also shot down a vaccine mandate and blocked President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program.
The court is currently weighing whether to overturn its 40-year-old Chevron decision, which has been the basis for upholding a wide range of regulations on public health, workplace safety and consumer protections.
Three energy-producing states — Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia — have challenged the air pollution rule, along with the steel industry and other groups, calling it costly and ineffective. They had asked the high court to put it on hold while their challenge makes it way through the courts.
The challengers pointed to decisions in courts around the country that have paused the rule in a dozen states, arguing that those decisions have undermined the EPA’s aim of providing a national solution to the problem of ozone pollution because the agency relied on the assumption that all 23 states targeted by the rule would participate.
The issue came to the court on an emergency basis, which almost always results in an order from the court without arguments before the justices.
But not this time. The court heard arguments in late February, when a majority of the court seemed skeptical of arguments from the administration and New York, representing Democratic states, that the “good neighbor” rule was important to protect downwind states that receive unwanted air pollution from other states.
The EPA has said power plant emissions dropped by 18% last year in the 10 states where it has been allowed to enforce its rule, which was finalized a year ago. Those states are Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. In California, limits on emissions from industrial sources other than power plants are supposed to take effect in 2026.
The rule is on hold in another dozen states because of separate legal challenges. Those states are Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
States that contribute to ground-level ozone, or smog, are required to submit plans ensuring that coal-fired power plants and other industrial sites don’t add significantly to air pollution in other states. In cases in which a state has not submitted a “good neighbor” plan — or in which the EPA disapproves a state plan — the federal plan was supposed to ensure that downwind states are protected.
Ground-level ozone, which forms when industrial pollutants chemically react in the presence of sunlight, can cause respiratory problems, including asthma and chronic bronchitis. People with compromised immune systems, the elderly and children playing outdoors are particularly vulnerable.
The Supreme Court building is seen on Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
