The New Jersey Devils made a big move earlier this week, as they re-signed star defenseman Luke Hughes to a seven-year, $63 million contract. It was a long off-season of negotiations between the two sides, but thankfully, a new contract was done before the season started. With this, Hughes is now locked up for a long time, which is huge news for the Devils.
Now that the Devils have Hughes signed, it is clear that they have another important move to make next: extending star goaltender Jacob Markstrom.
Markstrom is entering the final season of his contract in 2025-26 and can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. It has been reported that the Devils and Markstrom have had contract extension talks, and it is very easy to understand why.
The 35-year-old is the Devils' No. 1 goalie and a huge part of their roster. Due to this, they should only be continuing to get him signed to his next contract, as replacing him would not be the easiest of tasks.
Markstrom just completed his first season with the Devils in 2024-25, and it is fair to say that he made a positive impact. In 49 games with the Metropolitan Division club on the year, the veteran goaltender posted a 26-16-6 record, a .900 save percentage, a 2.50 goals-against average, and four shutouts. With this, he played a role in the Devils making it back into the playoffs in 2025.
Given the season Markstrom had and his importance to the team, the Devils' next big move should be to sign him to an extension. It will be interesting to see if they can do just that from here.