Elliotte Friedman reveals why Jacob Markstrom trade to the Leafs collapsed

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Tom Banks
June 22, 2024 (1:19 PM)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs were close to landing veteran goaltender Jacob Markstrom this past week, and now we officially know why it didn't go down.

For some time now, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been linked to a blockbuster deal to land a star goaltender, and according to all reports, they came close to making it happen recently.

Unfortunately for Toronto however, they fell short in the bidding war to land Jacob Markstrom, despite the fact that their offer to Calgary was very similar to New Jersey.

On Goalies: Talk about how Detroit is in the goalie market but Yzerman said he's not looking for someone who will only be there for 2-3 years. Toronto's offer for Markstrom was similar to New Jersey's. #LGRW #LeafsForever #Flames #NJDevils #NHL

Now, NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman has elaborated on why the deal fell apart, and unsurprisingly, it dates back to the politics between the two franchises given the position of Brad Treliving as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It sure feels like a trade between the Leafs and Flames will never happen as long as Brad Treliving is the GM

These politics date back to the potential deals of Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov, all of whom were linked to Toronto before deals never came together. It appears as though there's still some hard feelings between Treliving and his former team, and until that gets worked out, we may not see a deal done between these two teams anytime soon.