Canucks 2020 free agent targets: Goalie Robin Lehner

If the Vancouver Canucks lose Jacob Markstrom in free agency, they should target veteran netminder Robin Lehner as a replacement.

The Vancouver Canucks have plenty of difficult decisions to make ahead of free agency, but their first order of business is to figure out what’s happening with goalie Jacob Markstrom.

The 30-year-old was by far Vancouver’s most valuable player in 2019-20, prior to the season suspension. But Markstrom will likely want $5 million-plus annually on his next contract, and the cap-strapped Canucks might not be willing to do that.

If the Canucks let Markstrom leave in free agency, they’ll have to find a suitable veteran to take some of the pressure off of 24-year-old Thatcher Demko. The latter only has 37 NHL games on his resume, so throwing him into the starting role for 2020-21 wouldn’t be ideal. General manager Jim Benning will have to find somebody who can take a significant part of the workload.

I previously wrote about why the Canucks should target Jaroslav Halak of the Boston Bruins (here) and Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals (if the price is right). But how about Vegas Golden Knights backup Robin Lehner?

The journeyman netminder is just one season removed from a Vezina Trophy nomination with the New York Islanders. Lehner also won the Bill Masterton Trophy while sharing the William M. Jennings Trophy with Thomas Greiss last season.

Despite a strong season, however, Lehner settled on a cheap one-year, $5 million deal with the Chicago Blackhawks in free agency. He performed well with his new team, posting a 16-10-5 record with a .918 save percentage. The 3.01 goals against average wasn’t inspiring, but Lehner didn’t have much support with a non-playoff team in front of him.

Lehner was sent to the Golden Knights ahead of the trade deadline, and he was near perfect in all three starts there. Lehner went 3-0 with a superb .940 save percentage and a 1.67 goals against average.

The 28-year-old has been one of the NHL’s most productive goalies over these last two seasons . And considering the amount of talent in this year’s free agent goalie market, it’s safe to believe that Lehner can be had on a short-term deal.

If Lehner doesn’t like what’s on the market, he might be happy to take a one-year deal in hopes of resetting his free agent value for 2021. If that’s the case, Benning has to be on this.

A goaltending tandem of Lehner and Demko (again, this is if Vancouver can’t retain Markstrom) would be strong enough to keep the team in playoff contention. If Lehner’s asking price is reasonable, he should be right near the top of the Canucks’ 2020 free agent wish list, because they’ll need a reliable veteran to complement their goalie of the future in Demko.