B/R NHL Trade Grades for Pierre-Luc Dubois-Darcy Kuemper and Jacob Markstrom Deals

If teams are waiting for the playoffs to end before beginning their offseasons, then it sure seems that some got tired of waiting. Edmonton’s Game 5 win in Florida on Tuesday night sends the series back to Edmonton. Less than 24 hours later, eight NHL teams partook in player movements. The New Jersey Devils made their long-anticipated move for goaltender Jacob Markstrom. The Capitals and Kings combined for a stunning swap of underperformers, and the Sharks made two moves to add forward depth from the Stars and Rangers.

Let’s quickly analyze these moves and grade how each team did in these four transactions.

Washington Capitals

If there ever was a high-risk, high-reward trade, this is it. There’s a reason that Pierre-Luc Dubois was traded to Winnipeg for Patrik Laine. There’s a reason the Kings moved major assets to acquire him and immediately hand him $68 million over eight seasons.

Dubois is a 6’4″, 225-pound center who skates well, can body players, and is highly talented offensively. In 2022-23, a 24-year-old Dubois scored 27 goals and added 36 assists in 73 games. The season before, at age 23, he totaled 60 points in 82 games.

Those numbers reflect the duality of Dubois. On the one hand, he can be a good player. On the other, the former third-overall pick is always leaving you wanting more. It’s been a long time of waiting for Dubois to fully find his game and explode into the first-line center talent and build suggests he can be.

Los Angeles hoped they’d be the catalysts for that manifestation. Instead, he floundered. Dubois contributed a measly 40 points in 82 games, drawing the ire of the coaching staff and at times getting demoted to the fourth line.

The Capitals have now inherited this problem. The Caps are hoping that a change of scenery will unlock Dubois’ game, yet the 25-year-old Dubois is already on his fourth NHL team. The benefit of the doubt is running low.

One can still understand what GM Brian MacLellan is thinking. The Capitals are absolutely bereft of talent. Alexander Ovechkin can no longer create offense by himself. T.J. Oshie might not be able to play. Tom Wilson, who had 35 points all season, was the team’s All-Star representative. If Dubois can even get back to 60-point form, he’ll be overpaid but still the Capitals’ best, most talented player.

If Dubois doesn’t wake up and get back on track, the Capitals will have assumed what might be the worst contract in the NHL.

Grade: C+

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings find a way to save face after creating a massive headache for themselves. Dubois absolutely did not work out in Los Angeles. That contract alone was enough of a calamity. To say nothing of how well Gabriel Vilardi and Alex Iafello, traded to Winnipeg in return for Dubois, played this past season.

A buyout of Dubois, even at the 1/3rd cost for players aged 25 or younger, would have saddled the Kings with cap penalties ranging between $1.1 million and $3.2 million per season for the next 14 seasons. That is not a typo.

They could have tried to make it work with Dubois, but he was already a major problem and would have become an even bigger one had it not worked out for a second straight season. The Kings moved Dubois’ contract while they still had a taker.

In return, they potentially address a position of need. The Kings have not had a stable starting goaltender for a few seasons now and Cam Talbot will leave this summer via free agency. Kuemper was very good behind an elite defense in Colorado and won a Stanley Cup in 2022. Before that, he was a quality netminder for Arizona. However, Kuemper struggled massively last season. He lost his starting job, saving 1.73 goals below expected over just 33 games.

Kuemper did play well the season before and does have a history of credible goaltending, but last season was rough and he is now 34 years old.

The Kings have not won a playoff round in 10 seasons and have failed to truly leave the nest of rebuilding with their wings under them. There were and still are some really good goaltenders potentially available such as Jacob Markstrom, Juuse Saros, and Linus Ullmark. In what feels like a do-or-die season for management, is Kuemper the guy to bank on to take LA to the next level?

In the big picture, Kuemper’s $5.25 million cap hit through 2026 is nothing compared to what the Kings owed Dubois. If he doesn’t work out, they at least found a way out of a far bigger problem both short-term and especially long-term.

Grade: B+

New Jersey Devils

The Devils completely wasted a season of contention with an embarrassing goaltending tandem last season. They attempted to save face by trading for Jake Allen when the season was already unsalvageable. Allen remains, but he should not be a starter on a team with ambition.

Markstrom fits the bill. The 6’6″ goaltender complements that size with athleticism and technique. Amidst a chaotic season in Calgary, Markstrom rose above the noise and saved 28.9 goals more than expected, per Evolving Hockey. That ranked third among all goaltenders.

In fact, Markstrom ranks ninth among goaltenders by that metric over the last five seasons. Though the Devils have a solid Plan B in Allen, Markstrom is used to a high workload. This is close to an ideal situation for the Devils. They have a goaltender who is not only very good but is also stable. And with the Flames taking New Jersey’s cap cost down to $4.125, he’ll cost the Devils well below market value for a goaltender of Markstrom’s caliber.

The Devils were going to have to do whatever it took to get a legitimate starting goaltender. They managed to make a move without breaking the bank. If all goes well for the Devils, that first-round pick in 2025 will be towards the end of the first round. Kevin Bahl is, at best, a third-pairing defenseman. The Devils probably would like to add a veteran presence on the back-end in the short term, anyway. If there’s any downside to this move for the Devils, it’s that the 34-year-old Markstrom, signed through 2026, won’t be a long-term solution.

Grade: A

Calgary Flames

The Flames’ return is, at face value, underwhelming. One has to wonder if they could have received more had they moved Markstrom last season.

When really analyzing the move, the value probably isn’t that bad. Markstrom is a 34-year-old goaltender signed for two seasons and he held a full no-movement clause. Other goaltenders such as Linus Ullmark, Juuse Saros, Elvis Merzlikens, and Filip Gustavsson are also potentially available.

In Kevin Bahl, the Flames are receiving a 6’6″, 230-pound defenseman. While his size is intriguing, his game is limited. His decision-making in the defensive zone isn’t always great and he is inept with the puck. Bahl does use his reach well to prevent zone entries. With the right coaching, he could turn into a third-pairing defenseman who kills penalties.

The fallout in Calgary should not be about whether the value gained from New Jersey was proportional to Markstrom but instead about what this means for the franchise. The Flames were a borderline playoff team last season before the exodus of several veteran players including Nikita Zadorov, Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, and Elias Lindholm. Now Jacob Markstrom, who was keeping the team’s head above water, is gone.

The Flames are misinformed if they think they can quickly turn this around. Other notable players such as Andrew Mangiapane are reaching the end of their contracts. Calgary needs to sell off more temporary parts and take their lumps for a year or two. The Markstrom trade now gives them six first-round picks over the next three drafts. If they commit to a patient plan, they are set up for success.

Grade: B-

New York Rangers

Barclay Goodrow leaves New York with some moments to remember, including an overtime winner against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final. Nonetheless, the Rangers should feel very lucky to find a way out of his contract.

When Goodrow is on his game, he’s a solid defensive forward who can chip in the occasional goal. Include in some veteran intangibles and he’s good for a cap hit in the range of $1.8M. Often this season, the Rangers rarely even got that. While he did go on a goal-bender during the playoffs, scoring six, his line got buried at even strength. In terms of play-driving, Goodrow ranks as one of the worst of all forwards in the playoffs.

His $3.641 million cap hit for the next three seasons was an albatross that typically a team would have to attach some good draft picks to move via trade. Though Goodrow had a 15-team no-trade clause, he could not block anyone from claiming him via waivers. It’s a clever way for the Rangers to move Goodrow to a rebuilding team that Goodrow may not have otherwise allowed. Tough, but that’s the business.

The Rangers badly need to add a top-six winger to go alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. This is a big step towards making financial room for that addition. The Rangers will need to find a new fourth-line center but those are freely available at half of Goodrow’s cap hit.

Grade: A+

San Jose Sharks

There is some logic to what San Jose did here. The rebuilding Sharks need to hit the cap floor. They also need to surround a very young and very bad team with some veterans who will set the right standards of professionalism on and off the ice. In those respects, Goodrow absolutely fits the bill.

And the rebuilding Sharks, who may not even have projected first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini in the lineup next season, are a LONG way off from putting forth a remotely competitive roster. Quality free agents were not going to rush to their doorstep. And if Goodrow plays well below the standard of a $3.641 million player for the next three seasons, will it matter much? They’re not going to win much anyway. On the other hand, if he refinds his game, they could retain some of his cap hit and trade him at the 2025 or 2026 deadline for some value.

The cliché in hockey management is that, when your team is drowning, other teams throw you anvils rather than lifesavers. In this case, the Sharks threw the Rangers the rare lifesaver. The Sharks did the Rangers an unbelievable favor here in taking an otherwise unmovable contract off their hands without compensation. It probably won’t hurt the Sharks much in the long run, but they didn’t seize an opportunity here, either.

Grade: C-

San Jose Sharks

Ty Dellandrea, a former first-round pick in 2018, was once perceived as a prospect with a high floor. Six years later, he has yet to find that floor.

Then again, he did not get much of a chance on contender Dallas. Dellandrea tallied 28 points during the 2022-23 season while averaging a little over 14 minutes. This season, he fell to 12:40 in ice-time per game and scored twice with seven assists in just 42 games.

Dellandrea is a versatile player who features at both center and wing. He competes hard in all three zones and will find goals around the crease. The Stars, who were pressing for a Stanley Cup the last few seasons, struggled to find a consistent role for Dellandrea. In San Jose, his development will be higher up the list of the coaching staff’s priorities.

The Sharks are rebuilding but the entirety of their investment cannot be in draft picks. Dellandrea has already accomplished more than most fourth-round picks ever will, and he has room to do more. If new head coach Ryan Warsofsky can push the right buttons, Dellandrea could have a long future in the NHL as a bottom-six checking center. And at 23 years old, he still fits the profile of a rebuild-friendly player.

Grade: B+

Dallas Stars

In different circumstances, perhaps the Dellandrea draft pick would have worked out better in Dallas. The Stars have consistently been one of the top teams in the NHL the last few seasons and there was not much upward mobility available to him in the lineup. A depth role in which there wasn’t patience for subpar performance was not the ideal developmental environment for a player of his ilk.

Wyatt Johnston has emerged as one of the top young centers in the league and the Stars will have to get creative in order to find opportunities for 21-year-old center Mavrik Bourque, who produced 77 points in 71 AHL games last season.

Dellandrea had not future in Dallas and the Stars got what they could for him.

Grade: B