Well it is was just a matter of time. The Florida Panthers defense is porous, and the goaltending has suffered.
At the moment GM Dale Tallon is carrying three goaltenders on the team in Jose Theodore, Scott Clemmensen, and Jacob Markstrom, in an effort to get some competition going to improve the situation between the pipes. We shall see if it works.
Markstrom, 23, the Gavle, Sweden, native has played in 33 games with San Antonio this season going 16-15-2 with a 2.65 GAA and a .920 save percentage. The 6-foot-6, 195-pound goaltender has surrendered two or fewer goals in 11 of his last 16 starts and has posted an 8-4-0 record in his last 12 starts. Markstrom is currently fourth in the league in saves (994) and owns a 10-5-2 record in games where he makes at least 30 stops.
Markstrom was drafted by Florida in the second round (31st overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
The other question would be is how close is Tallon to dealing one of the older netminders? If Markstrom continues his solid play from San Antonio, it would be an easy decision to trade Theodore away and get some decent value in return. Clemmensen backing up Markstrom for the duration might be a good enough combination for the stretch run. Not great, but good.
Going into the season it was hard to think the defense would be the biggest problem on this team would be the blue line. But the problems are correctable as they are more assignment/coverage problems than ability. There is no time, however, for there to be a delay in righting the ship in this department.
Tallon inferred that if Markstrom plays well, he could stay up with the club indefinitely. There is no doubt he is the front-runner to start next season as the #1 goalie of the future. It has taken him a few years to battle some injuries and get used to the North American size of rinks and style of play, but it appears that the Markstrom(a.k.a. The Alien) era has likely started.
For many fans this is great news, as they were calling for him immediately as things went south this season. But those that are practical know that it is the Panthers poor play to this point that has forced this situation. Could Markstrom be the spark plug that gets this team in gear? Possibly. But all things being equal it probably would have been better for him to finish the season in San Antonio than be called up out of what appears to be a bit of desperation.
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Dan Spiegel...
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