Vancouver Canucks: Time to move on from Ryan Miller

Though the Vancouver Canucks have expressed interest in keeping Ryan Miller, it’s time for the team to cut ties and find another backup goalie this offseason.

The Vancouver Canucks never seem to lack controversy in the crease these days. From the Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider saga to the Jacob Markstom and Ryan Miller tandem, this franchise isn’t immune to having a clear picture with goalies.

Over the past year or so, some Canucks fans haven’t been pleased with the team investing so much faith in Miller, who signed a three-year deal here in 2014 when he was 34. Some (myself included), have believed for quite a while that Markstrom should have been the undisputed starter by now.

Well, Benning did confirm that there will in fact be a change in the starter’s crease in 2017-18. According to Harrison Mooney from the Vancouver Province, Benning said that Markstrom will be the team’s starter in 2017-18.

Good, but that doesn’t mean that the team is ready to move on from Miller. Here’s what Benning had to say about the veteran netminder:

“We’re in conversations with (Miller’s) agent and with him…We feel with where we’re at, we need good goaltending every night to be competitive with these young players up front, so we’re gonna talk to Ryan and his agent and if we can figure something out we’d love to have him back.”

Ending Miller Time

With all due respect to both Benning and Miller, it just doesn’t make sense for the Canucks to bring back the 2010 Vezina Trophy Winner. For starters, how does keeping a goalie on the possible verge of retirement help a team during its rebuilding stage?

This is the prime opportunity for Vancouver to promote golden prospect Thatcher Demko to the backup role.

If not, the Canucks could find another veteran goalie who can push Markstrom if he isn’t able to handle the starting workload.

Miller just isn’t the same goalie anymore. In 2015-16, he went 17-24-9 with a 2.70 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. In 2016-17, he went 18-29-6 with a 2.80 goals-against average and .914 save percentage. Those aren’t inspiring numbers by any means, and the soon-to-be 37-year-old isn’t going to get any better at this stage of his career.

Better Solutions Are Available

The Canucks aren’t going to chase any of the top goalies that’ll be available this offseason — which includes Marc-Andre Fleury, Brian Elliott and Jimmy Howard. But there are plenty of quality veteran backups they could think about adding.

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Why not Jonathan Bernier, who went 21-7-4 as John Gibson‘s understudy with the Anaheim Ducks this season? He has plenty of starting experience under his belt and is just 28 years of age, meaning he could be of longer use than guys like Miller.

Chad Johnson, who went 18-15-3 with a 2.59 goals-against average with the Calgary Flames this season, would also be a serviceable backup to Markstrom.

Or what about what Patrick Johnston from the Vancouver Province speculated? The Canucks trading up for the Dallas Stars’ third pick and taking on one of the bad contracts of goalies Kari Lehtonen or Antti Niemi?

Unlikely, but it is a possibility. With younger, possibly cheaper and better all-around goalies available in the offseason, bringing back Miller isn’t a necessity by any means for the Canucks.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, all that matters is that Jacob Markstrom will be the No. 1 goalie in 2017-18.

Bringing back Miller may seem like the right move if you’re talking about loyalty, but the NHL is a business.

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Loyalty doesn’t mean much these days. So if the Vancouver Canucks want to get younger and are looking for a quality backup to provide insurance for Markstrom, then avoiding Ryan Miller and finding a better option this offseason is the way to go.

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