Jacob Markstrom nearly made his mark on the trade market. The Calgary goaltender has been Flaming hot, playing like a Vezina candidate and extinguishing his suitor's hopes of getting him for cheap. He's 17-14-2 on a mediocre team, with a 2.50 Goals Against Average and a jaw-dropping .916 save percentage. The 34-year-old also has a goals saved above expected stat that's third in the league at 18.4. And he makes for the perfect trade candidate as he's on an expiring contract, making $6 million. <h2>Markstrom Trade Talks: A Near Miss</h2> Reports were buzzing that he was on the verge of joining the New Jersey Devils, but the deal fell through. Markstrom was reportedly on board and even waived his no-trade clause. Insider Frank Seravalli broke the news, saying, <q>I think the Devils and Flames were pretty far down the track on a Markstrom deal. I think it did get to his level to approve it. There were no issues there. Somehow, along the way, that trade was scuttled. Don't know how & don't know why. But they were pretty close to nailing it down. You would have seen Jacob Markstrom become a New Jersey Devil, I think, at some point last week.</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/dailyfaceoff/status/1757486132651299098?s=46&t=yPo8xhaBTcZP7mkzEJs97A'> </a></blockquote></div> And Elliotte Friedman added his two cents, saying the deal fell apart because the Devils wanted Calgary to retain some of Markstrom's salary, which the Flames weren't down for. He even speculated that it's probably a done deal now, and the Devils won't be revisiting it. <q>Can this be revisited? My answer is probably not based on the way it played out. And two, now what? Is there another team that would be willing to step up and pay what would be a pretty significant price for Calgary to reshape their goaltending scenario?</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/jamesnicholsnhl/status/1757441795397386280?s=46&t=yPo8xhaBTcZP7mkzEJs97A'> </a></blockquote></div> So, what's next for Markstrom? Well, at 34, he's likely on the move before the trade deadline, and there's gonna be a lineup of contenders wanting him. Yet whoever wants him will have to pay his entire salary. So, let the bidding war begin.