Will the Flames and Maple Leafs ever be able to execute a trade?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the market and it's been reported that the club was in on the Jacob Markstrom sweepstakes.

So how close were they to landing the former Calgary Flames goaltender? Perhaps closer than originally thought.

On the latest edition of the '32 Thoughts', Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman revealed that Toronto's offer didn't appear to be too different than what the New Jersey Devils moved to acquire the 34-year-old.

"I heard their offer was comparable to New Jersey's," Friedman said. "I think because of the politics there, I think Toronto was going to have to blow anyone else out of the water."

The Flames moved Markstrom to New Jersey on Wednesday for a top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick and defenseman Kevin Bahl. The Flamed also retained 31.25 percent of Markstrom's remaining salary cap hit of $6 million per season.

As far as the politics are concerned, that stems from last year when former Flames GM Brad Treliving stepped down from the organization. He later joined the Maple Leafs a month before his contract with the Flames officially expired. That led to all kinds of silly stipulations like at the 2023 NHL Draft where Treliving wasn't permitted to join the Maple Leafs' table until after the Flames made their first selection.

Treliving had been linked to other former Flames players over the last year like defensemen Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov, but was unable to execute a deal despite strong interest.

"I think the Maple Leafs were really going to have to win that deal," Friedman added about the Markstrom trade.

No details of any offer were provided.

The Maple Leafs have one NHL goaltender, Joseph Woll, under contract for the upcoming season. Ilya Samsonov, who spent the last two seasons in Toronto, appears to be headed for free agency as Toronto has been linked to interest in free agents like Winnipeg Jets goaltender Laurent Brossoit and Florida Panthers netminder Anthony Stolarz.

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