Photo Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki/USA TODAY Sports

The Vancouver Canucks are expected to trade a goaltender this weekend, one of either Eddie Lack or Jacob Markstrom. 

When that happens though may be dictated by outside factors, like when the New York Rangers ultimately move on backup Cam Talbot, who appears to be the belle of the goalie trade market ball, even though you could make a convincing argument that Eddie Lack is the better puck stopper.

“Around the league it seems like the goaltending position is dominating things right now,” summarized Canucks president Trevor Linden on Thursday.

“There’s probably one other goalie (Cam Talbot) and once he moves, the market kind of opens up a bit,” said Jim Benning, all but admitting that his timeline is inextricably linked with what the Rangers are doing. “If that (Lack) is the way we decide to go, I could get criticized, but that’s part of the job and there’s nothing I could do about that. We want to keep a veteran goalie and a big part of last year is that we had two good goalies and Ryan (Miller) is a proven No. 1.

“We have to make a hard decision on the other two guys,” Benning continued via the Vancouver Province. “Part of it is going to be based on who we think has the most upside and fits in the salary-cap situation.”

That last part there – the upside and the salary-cap situation bit – is very interesting. Markstrom is a restricted player for a few more years yet, while Lack will require a massive raise following this upcoming season if he remains in the organization. Reading between the lines, it sure seems like the Canucks general manager is telegraphing an upcoming Lack trade.

Though Lack is the best bet among Vancouver’s three NHL-level goaltenders to post above average results next season, the Rangers appear to be getting a lot of nibbles on Talbot.

“It’s like a mini-auction,” said TSN’s Darren Dreger, characterizing the rising interest in Talbot.

There’s been a considerable amount of interest, and there’s interest in Eddie Lack and other goaltenders we know to be available as well,” Dreger continued. “But the New York Rangers have four solid offers, the equivalent of a first-round draft pick without being a first-round draft pick. So maybe two second-round draft picks, or a second-round draft pick, with a prospect included. The Oilers have made their offer, the Dallas Stars, the Buffalo Sabres, and the San Jose Sharks…”

It’s probably worth noting that two of those four teams chasing Talbot are in the Canucks’ division, and three are in the Western Conference. There’s been some chatter, most notably from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, that the Canucks would be very reluctant to send Lack to a Western Conference rival. If that’s the case, it might explain why the Sabres are the only team that has really been linked to Lack, even as teams appear to be falling all over themselves to deal for Talbot.

The market itself may stay frozen through Thursday evening, if Larry Brooks of the New York Post is to be believed. He expects the Rangers to wait it out and suggests that they’re seeking a first-round pick for their backup goaltender. Brooks also highlights the offers on the table for Talbot and they’re nothing short of stunning:

I’m not sure why the Rangers are waiting. They’re not going to get a Semyon Varlamov/Cory Schneider type return for a goaltender who didn’t even manage above average results until he got hot over a run of 1500 shots faced behind one of the NHL’s most polished defensive teams.

As the Rangers’ unlikely push for a first-round pick plays itself out, it seems that the denizens of Canuckistan will have to wait a bit longer for their team to make another sure to be controversial goalie trade (the club’s third such deal in the past three years):