Vancouver Canucks: Jacob Markstrom Will Need to Push for Playing Time
When the puck drops on October 15th, Ryan Miller will be the starting goalie for the Vancouver Canucks. But for how long remains to be seen.
Coming out of Jacob Markstrom‘s performance against Russia at the World Cup of Hockey, Vancouver Canucks fans were begging for him to be the starting goalie this year. GM Jim Benning was quick to quell that notion when he told TSN 1040 that Ryan Miller would be the starting goalie.
“Let’s make no mistake about that, first and foremost, Ryan’s our No. 1 goalie. He’s a guy that, he has the experience, he had a good season for us last year. But I feel we have two real good goalies and that’s a strength of our team.”
It makes sense that Miller will be the starting goalie for a number of reasons. He’s far more experienced and proven than Markstrom and is paid to be the starting goalie. He’s also the guy Jim Benning chose to keep the Canucks a playoff team, which seems to be the goal for this season.
That doesn’t mean Markstrom can’t take the job from him at some point this year. Last year, Markstrom managed to fight his way in to 33 games and finished with a 13-14-3 record with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. Those numbers were good enough to get a three-year contract extension worth $2.67 million per season.
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In past years, Miller has shown that he performs best with an alleviated workload. That means, in an ideal situation, he should be looking at 50-60 games this year which would put Markstrom at 20-30 games. As the heir to the goaltending throne — or at least keeping the seat warm until Thatcher Demko gets here — Markstrom will need to push for at least 40 games.
At 36 years old and with an expiring contract, Miller will likely not be back with the Canucks next year, instead looking to pursue one last shot at the Stanley Cup before he hangs up his skates. That means Markstrom will need to handle the majority of the workload with Richard Bachman or whichever backup Benning can bring in handling the rest. If Markstrom isn’t able to push Miller for a shared role in the crease this year, then there is no guarantee that Markstrom will be able to handle that kind of responsibility.
In 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks named Cristobal Huet the starting goalie and by season’s end he was quickly usurped by rookie sensation Antti Niemi as they went on to win the Stanley Cup. Nobody is awarding the Stanley Cup to the Canucks this year, but for the sake of the team in the present and future, Markstrom will need to follow in Niemi’s footsteps.
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