Vancouver Canucks where are they now: Eddie Lack

Once touted as the Vancouver Canucks goalie of the future, Eddie Lack has fallen out of hockey relevancy and has come nowhere near fulfilling his once promising potential. Throughout his career, fans and media alike realize the ups and downs of a professional athletes life.

From Sweden, Eddie Lack was never drafted, failing to be picked in any round in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. However, his dream did not stop there, after playing in Sweden’s SHL with Brynas IF, he signed as a free agent rookie with the Vancouver Canucks.

Brynas has produced a lot of NHLers throughout the years, with the most recent star being 2018 first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin. Immediately after signing with the Canucks, Lack was assigned to Vancouver’s then AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.

In the 2010-2011 season, he was named to the AHL all-rookie team, and was being touted as one of the games hottest goaltending prospects. In that first AHL season, he posted a .926 save percentage, good for fourth best in the AHL and was the youngest goalie in the top 10.

The Moose made the playoffs in his first year, but were eliminated in the second round by the Hamilton Bulldogs, that meant that Lack was able to join the Canucks for their 2011 cup run. He was placed on the playoff reserve roster, behind the famous goaltending tandem of Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo. Lack did not see any action in the 2011 NHL playoffs, however, it was an unforgettable experience, in which he learned what it takes to make a run at the cup. After a successful AHL year and an NHL playoff experience, the hockey world was high on Lack.

In 2011-12 Lack spent another season in the American League, this time in with the Chicago Wolves due to the Canucks change in affiliate. The reason for the minor league change was because the Winnipeg Jets had relocated back to Winnipeg and took control of the Moose franchise. Upon their takeover, the Jets moved the moose to St. Johns Newfoundland and rebranded them the St. Johns Icecaps.

Lack’s second minor league season was not as good as his first, although he continued to be touted as the next NHL goaltending superstar. He earned his first call-up that season, backing up Cory Schneider in a game vs the Chicago Blackhawks. He did not start an NHL game that year, and his second season with the Wolves was cut short due to injury.

The start of the 2013-14 season was when his career finally took the next step. He was named to the Canucks NHL team by incoming head coach John Tortorella to back up club legend Roberto Luongo. His call up was the first piece in what was the downfall of Luongo, and the beginning of yet another goaltending controversy in Vancouver.

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Lack played only one less game than Luongo in 2013-14 and forced Luongo out of the city after he was picked to start the Heritage Classic at BC Place against the Ottawa Senators. Luongo had been outspoken in his desire to play the game, and head coach Tortorella decided to start Lack to spite the veteran netminder.

Luongo was publicly displeased after that debacle and was traded two days later. The trade did pay off for the Canucks– they got young netminder Jacob Markstrom as part of the returning package, and he has become a reliable force between the pipes for Vancouver.

Lack finished the year as the Canucks starter, with Markstrom as his backup. However that summer the Canucks signed veteran netminder Ryan Miller, forcing all the goaltenders down a step on the ladder. Lack continued to progress and had a very good season, he even started the first few playoff games for Vancouver due to a Miller injury. Those game would be Lack’s last as a Vancouver Canuck–  with only one year remaining on his contract, he was traded south to the Carolina Jerks –– I mean Hurricanes.

Upon his trade, he signed a two-year contract extension — but he struggled for Carolina in only his first year. He finished the year with the Hurricanes, putting up career worst numbers and it became clear that he was not going to finish his contract in Raleigh. The Hurricanes promptly got rid of him, and he became the latest reclamation project of the Calgary Flames. Much like he did in Carolina, Lack struggled with the flames and was sent down to the AHL affiliate after only a handful of games. He lasted only one year in the Calgary system, before being sent back out east to the New Jersey Devils.

Without even a chance to prove himself, Lack was sent down to the AHL again — this time with the Binghamton Devils. He has remained in the Devils organization the past three seasons, and has only seen the NHL ice four times in that period. At this point, it is certain he will never become the NHL starter he was once expected to be, and an early retirement would not be out of the question for the Swedish netminder.

He continues to meddle around the AHL with the Devils, and just finished a season with a below average save percentage in a year riddled with injuries. Although his hockey career has taken a turn for the worse, Lack has been very active on Twitter and other social media, continuing to have a special connection with fans. Throughout his career, he has become the butt end of many jokes, most notably the “Eddie LACKS skill joke.”

The smiling Swede was a fan favourite in Vancouver — media and fans alike all predicted him to be the Canucks’ crease stalwart for years to come, but years later — everybody now looks foolish. It is never fun to see a prospect fall as badly as Lack, but that is hockey and life all merged into one. Sometimes things pan out, and sometimes they don’t; unfortunately for Lack, he is on the latter side of that equation.