[Pellanor]

The Athletic talked to Valiquette about Markstrom today.

“If we put Markstrom in the net and it’s just a do-over of last season where he’s in Rittich’s net, he would’ve had nine more wins, 18 more points, the Flames would’ve been first in the Pacific and he would’ve prevented 18 more goals than Rittich allowed, based on the strengths that Markstrom has and all the different shot types,” Valiquette said.

Where Markstrom really excels, however, relative to the rest of the league is in stopping the low danger shots that cause the body language of a goaltender’s teammates to sag.

And more than anything, as anyone who watched Calgary’s Game 6 calamity against the Dallas Stars in the bubble can tell you, that’s something the Flames really needed to address — and did — this offseason.