Report: Eddie Lack Traded to Carolina Hurricanes

Well, that didn’t take long. After being silent on this front yesterday, Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning made his goalie decision early on Saturday morning, trading fan favourite goalie Eddie Lack to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 3rd round pick (66th overall) this season, and a 7th round pick in 2016.

Let’s unpack it after the jump.

The report come courtesy of Sportenet’s Chris Johnson:

While a 3rd and a 7th may not seem like much at first… yeah, it’s really not much at all. The average value of the 3rd round pick the Canucks are getting is roughly equivalent to a “good minor leaguer” and a 7th round pick is essentially a scratch and win ticket. It’s more likely than not that Vancouver sees absolutely zero NHL value in return for Lack in this deal.

Still, there are prospects we’d be intrigued about at 66th overall – guys like Anthony Richard and Veeti Vainio come to mind – but we’re intrigued insofar as they may be a bit more likely to become something better than the average 3rd round pick, which just means that the best Vancouver can likely do at 66th is a guy we have to assume is unlikely to make the NHL as we stand here on June 27th.

In terms of NHL impact, I can’t see a scenario where this deal makes the Canucks better in the short term. Ryan Miller simply isn’t Ryan Miller anymore, and at his age, smart money is on him being worse than the mediocre level he performed at last season. Jacob Markstrom was an elite AHLer, but he’s always been an elite AHLer. Yes, he has made tweaks to his game, but to expect him to grow from “catastrophically awful in the NHL” to “a good bet to give you average NHL goaltending” in one season with a new goalie coach and some game tweaks is nothing short of expecting a miracle.

We already know that the Canucks are a poor defensive team that tends to allow high-danger shots at a higher rate than the vast majority of the league, so having two massive question marks could blow up in the Canucks’ face more so than it could for most teams. As much of a “bounce back” as 2014-15 was, a return to 2013-14’s record seems more likely from my point of view.

If there’s one saving grace for Benning, it’s that relatively unproven goaltenders just aren’t great trade chips and tend to net you a whole lot of not much at all in return. Devan Dubnyk was one of the best goalies in the league this year, and fetched a mid-round pick. Ben Scrivens, Michal Neuvirth, and Jonas Enroth were also all dealt for 3rd round picks, so that’s kinda the market for guys that aren’t a bona-fide starter or young enough to have long-term starter upside.

Still, at that return, I’d rather just have Lack.