Devils Shake Up Roster With Markstrom-Panthers Trade and Cap Relief
New Jersey trades Jacob Markstrom and Angus Crookshank to Florida for Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist, and Ben Steeves, with no salary retained. The Devils erase Markstrom’s $6M cap hit for 2027-28 and gain about $1.5M in cap space, while Florida adds a versatile forward in Rodrigues, a physical forward in Boqvist, and promising AHL forward Steeves. The move reshapes New Jersey’s goaltending situation (Jake Allen is the interim starter; Nico Daws could factor in) and gives Sunny Mehta room to reshuffle the lineup, whereas the Panthers return marks a familiar face to South Florida. Overall, the deal is portrayed as a cap-positive swap with solid returns for the Devils, though goaltending questions linger.”,