Report: Canucks and Jacob Markstrom working towards contract extension

With July 1st in the rear view mirror, hockey news is few and far between, but that doesn’t appear to be stopping Canucks management from getting some work done. According to News 1130, they are speaking with 26 year old goaltender Jacob Markstrom on a contract extension

Markstrom will be a un-restriced free agent at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season, so it isn’t surprising that they are trying to lock him up now.

The Gavle, Sweden native appeared in 32 contests for the Canucks last season posting a 13-14-3 record, with 2.73 GAA and .915 SV%.

At this time, there is no information on what the term or numbers are, but I would expect the deal to be in the 3-5 year range as the Canucks would want to ensure they have Markstrom locked up for the duration of Thatcher Demko’s entry level contract and then another year or two to ensure that the starting role isn’t thrust on Demko too soon.

It’s smart of Canucks management to lock up the Swedish net minder early, as although Markstrom had a good season, he is still transitioning into a starting role and thus won’t command huge dollars. It also gives them some cost certainty, as  Bo Horvat, Erik Gudbranson, and Ben Hutton will be in need of new deals.

In early May, I did a more in depth look at Markstrom’s season – which can be found here.

As for financial terms, James Reimer contract with the Florida Panthers looks like a fair comparison, as Reimer posted a similar SV% but better GAA while with the Toronto Maple Leafs. But showed very well with the San Jose Sharks following a trade deadline deal. Markstrom will be 14 months younger on July 1, 2017 than Reimer was this July.

So given all those, in my opinion, Reimer’s deal of 5 years at $3.4 million per season is a good comparable that the Canucks should hope to be around.

All of this is speculative but it will be interesting to see what contract the two sides do work out.