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A new NHL season means a lot of goaltenders will be unveiling new masks, and that includes Jacob Markstrom who will be starting his first season with the New Jersey Devils after being traded by the Calagary Flames over the summer.

And boy, oh boy, is his first Devils mask something to see, especially if you consider yourself an amateur cryptozoologist like I do (which means, I watched MonsterQuest on the History Channel a lot when I was a kid).

The Devils have kind of struggled on the goaltending front ever since the departure of Martin Brodeur. Sure, it’s hard to replace arguably the best to ever do it, but aside from a decent run with Cory Schneider in the mid to late 2010s, it hasn’t been great.

Things were especially rough the last season or two, and it proved to be the biggest problem for a team that missed the postseason in 2023-24 after being labeled a potential Cup contender.

They were not, so in comes Markstrom after four solid seasons in Calgary.

Markstrom celebrated his start with a new team with a brain bucket that pays homage to the team’s namesake, the legendary Jersey Devil.

Martin Brodeur had the perfect mask design for the New Jersey Devils, and no one can ever top it… but Markstrom’s lid is probably just behind because that thing is a work of art.

It’s intimidating, pays homage to team history, is well-painted, and overall looks killer (that red cage is a great touch). That’s what every mask should strive for.

Take a look at this thing:

“I was walking my dog and thinking about it,” Markstrom said per the Devils website. “I was like ‘It’s not really a devil, like it’s not Satan. It’s the New Jersey Devil, this goat-headed creature from the Pine Barren forest. That’s all I knew. I had heard of it but I didn’t know anything about it.”

We should find out soon enough whether Markstrom is the answer the Devils need in net, but if he’s not, the 34-year-old Swede only has two years left on his current deal, so New Jersey isn’t on the hook for the long haul.

There’s a lot of talent on this Devils roster especially upfront with the likes of Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, and I think they’ll thrive under new coach Sheldon Keefe. I’m not going to say New Jersey will be a Cup contender, but I would expect them to be sniffing around the playoff hunt for most of the season.