Tom Fitzgerald Has To Find the Right Balance For Jacob Markstrom‘s Next Contract
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Power Play Segment with Steve Kouleas and Frankie Corrado on Wednesday. He was asked about Jacob Markstrom and the New Jersey Devils, as well as the status of extension talks.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Steve Kouleas: “Okay, I’m on your site. Jacob Markstrom. The Devils are winning. He’s banged up. Jake Allen, I guess Nico Daws, will go tonight. What’s the latest on Markstrom? Is there a love affair between him, his agent, and Tom Fitzgerald?”
NHL Rumors: Tom Fitzgerald Wants To Keep Jacob Markstrom
Dave Pagnotta: “Well, look, there’s mutual, obviously, there’s mutual interest on both sides to try to get something done here. I think a lot of it has to deal with term more than anything. And when we spoke with Tom Fitzgerald, their general manager, on Saturday, he emphasized how much, and he kept saying both Jacob and Amanda, his wife, wanted them to continue to be part of their family. There’s no doubt that they want to keep that. They want to maintain it.
He seemed pretty confident that they will get something done. It’s just a matter of timing, obviously, with when that can happen now, because he’s been injured and because he’s just coming back on the ice and skating, they wanted to just let him kind of heal up before resuming some discussions. A minor pause in things, but by all accounts, they obviously want to get something done.
But it’s going to come down to just the structure of this deal. And because he’s in the 35-plus range on this next deal, that’s a factor within these discussions and these negotiations. So, again, they want to get there. We’ll see kind of where they go. But it’s going to take a little bit of creativity, by the sounds of things, in terms of how this will ultimately get structured with different bonuses that could potentially be in place.
But, I mean, there is a mutual goal in getting an extension done. It’s just to what degree. That’s what they have to obviously figure out.”
NHL Rumors: The New Jersey Devils are Looking to Get Jacob Markstrom Extended
NHLRumors.com Note: The New Jersey Devils have a little bit of a gap to close to get Jacob Markstrom extended. They want to keep this goalie tandem together with Jake Allen as their goalie of the future. Mikhail Yegorov plays at Boston University and is a couple of years away from playing in the NHL. Allen just signed a five-year contract at $1.8 million a season.
Reports have surfaced that the Devils initially offered Markstrom and his camp a four-year, $5 million-per-season deal. However, with Markstrom having a history of injuries, the Devils and Tom Fitzgerald want to make sure they are on the right side of an aging contract. However, both sides want this to happen.
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