Welcome to the yearly wrap up of the top read articles over the last year!
It was in early January when CanucksArmy took a look ahead into the future at potential Jacob Markstrom replacements.
Writer Michael Wagar broke down four goalies who could’ve replaced Markstrom.
The four goalies Wager suggested were Anton Khudobin, Thomas Greiss, Corey Crawford and Jaroslav Halak. For bigger breakdowns on these goalies, you can check out the article above.
Here’s the intro of what Wager wrote:
As Jacob Markstrom and his team continue to rise in the standings, so too does the dollar value on his next contract. With the 30-year-old UFA set to hit the open market, speculation on the cost of Markstrom’s next contract has ramped up. Popular consensus is that Markstrom can expect five to six million on a four or five year term, but The Atheltic’s Rick Dhaliwal speculated that the AAV of a potential Markstrom deal could exceed $6 million.
There’s no denying that he’s earned that money based on his performance this year. He’s made significant strides in his game during his time in Vancouver and has regularly stolen games for his club this season. It’s unlikely the Canucks would be in a position to win their division without him as their starter.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that a long-term commitment is in the team’s best interests, however. The Canucks’ brass has a history of cap mismanagement and with extensions looming for the team’s two best players, it’s clear that Jim Benning will have to navigate carefully and save money where he can. Handing out a contract to Markstrom near the speculated dollars and term would give him less wiggle room to do so.
As the team continues to negotiate with Markstrom’s camp, they’re also likely to at least explore potential replacements. There haven’t been any reports that the team intends on letting Markstrom walk, but reviewing their options on the free agent market would be due diligence for any team’s front office.
With that in mind, it’s useful for fans to take stock of who will be available this summer. While reviewing the goalies set to be on the open market, it’s important to keep in mind that the benefit to this route is saving money. This means that signing expensive goalies like Braden Holtby or Robin Lehner won’t be considered in this piece, as it wouldn’t allow the Canucks to save. Instead, let’s take a look at goalies who are poised to make considerably less, but could still tandem well with Demko for one or two seasons.
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