32 Teams, 32 Players: Jacob Markstrom (with bonus NHL predictions for the season)

We continue to get ready for the start of the 2024-25 NHL season by highlighting one player on each team, today focussing on New Jersey Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom.

Now that the 2024-25 NHL season has arrived we are going to highlight one player on each team that stands out for the season. What kind of player? Well, a player that could make a difference, be an X-factor, be on the verge of a breakout, or just simply be a player under the microscope and needing to have a big season.

Basically — which player do I think is the most fascinating on each team.

We are not going in any particularly order and continue today with Jacob Markstrom of the New Jersey Devils.

We are also using this to give some season predictions for the 2024-25 NHL season.

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It is not very often that a team that missed the playoffs the previous season enters with Stanley Cup expectations the next year. The New Jersey Devils should be one of those teams with those expectations, and the arrival of starting goalie Jacob Markstrom is a big reason why.

To understand this we first need to understand what went wrong for the 2023-24 Devils. Because there was a lot, and much of it revolved around the goalie position.

For one, injuries absolutely ruined their roster and lineup for a significant portion of the season. Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, Dougie Hamilton and Nico Hischier all missed significant time, with Hamilton — their top defenseman and one of the best in the NHL — missing three quarters of the season. That is a lot for any team to overcome.

They also had a coaching problem with Lindy Ruff not putting the team — or some of its young players — in positions to succeed.

Then there was the other big issue — the goaltending.

This was the obvious question mark going into the season, and the Devils did not seem overly concerned about it and then sat by and did nothing for most of the season while the position held back the rest of the roster.

There is not much you can do about injuries other than hope for the best. The Devils worked hard to fix the other two issues by replacing Ruff with former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, and then acquiring Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames.

Markstrom is our focal point here, because if he can arrive in New Jersey and give them capable No. 1 goaltending, that completely changes the ceiling for the Devils. Especially behind a healthier lineup that also strengthened itself with the signing of defenseman Brett Pesce in the offseason.

Let’s talk about it.