Insider reveals truth behind failed Jacob Markstrom trade.

The Calgary Flames were struck by a major controversy last week when veteran goaltender Jacob Markstrom expressed his frustration with how his situation had been handled leading up to the trade deadline.

Markstrom took a poorly veiled shot at the Flames front office and many assumed that his comments had been directed at Flames general manager Craig Conroy given that, in theory, the general manager is the man calling the shots at this time of year. New comments from a National Hockey League insider however appear to indicate that Conroy has been unfairly maligned, with someone else in the front office meriting all of the blame.

"I don't think Jacob Markstrom's issue with the Flames front office is at all with Craig Conroy," said NHL insider Frank Seravalli. "My understanding, and this is a belief I've had for 3 weeks or a month now, is that the Flames and [New Jersey] Devils had agreed to a trade on Markstrom. They had gone to Markstrom and said 'We are thinking about trading you to New Jersey' and he gave them the green light."

Seravalli would double down on those comments, indicating his belief that the deal was either a done deal or had at the very least been agreed upon by both teams.

"The two sides, I believe, had agreed in principle to a trade and above Craig Conroy... Don Malone on behalf of ownership, is believed to have nixed this trade," said Seravalli.

Given this new information it makes a great deal of sense why Markstrom would be frustrated, and Seravalli expressed as much.

"So I think Markstrom's frustration is 'You asked me if I would waive. I said yes. Then you don't trade me. And then you determined after the fact that you're not going to trade me or you've told people you're not going to trade me.' I can understand why that would be disappointing," admitted Seravalli.

Seravalli did not elaborate on why Flames ownership may have stepped in, but if I had to wager a guess I would suspect it has to do with the team's recent run of success. The Flames are suddenly a potential playoff contender, and the allure of playoff ticket sales may have been too enticing for ownership to ignore.