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Canucks: Why letting Jacob Markstrom walk isn’t a bad idea

By Joshua Rey

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 16: Brayden Schenn #10 of the St. Louis Blues scores the game winning goal at 15:06 of overtime against Jacob Markstrom #25 of the Vancouver Canucks in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 16, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Blues defeated the Canucks 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 16: Brayden Schenn #10 of the St. Louis Blues scores the game winning goal at 15:06 of overtime against Jacob Markstrom #25 of the Vancouver Canucks in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 16, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Blues defeated the Canucks 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /
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The Vancouver Canucks want to re-sign Jacob Markstrom, but I’m going to explain why letting him walk to Free Agency isn’t the worst idea.

Re-signing Jacob Markstrom is a priority for the Vancouver Canucks this offseason. However, it seems like he is going to be looking for a big pay rise, and with the Canucks having salary cap troubles due to the cap remaining flat, it is going to be very difficult to meet Markstrom’s demands.

According to TSN insider Darren Dreger, Markstrom’s next contract could possibly have an annual salary of at least $6 million a season.

Is it worth giving Markstrom that kind of money? It probably isn’t. Of course, this depends on term. But if Markstrom is going to want that type of money, the best thing the Canucks can do is move on and let him walk away.

I can already see all of the hate as I type this, so I will write a disclaimer. I don’t actually want the Canucks to let Markstrom walk. I would like the Canucks to re-sign him because he has been a very good goaltender for the last couple of years and was voted team MVP for a reason.

Nothing against him, but the term and AAV must be of fair value. And trust me, the figure mentioned above is definitely fair value considering his remarkable play, but the Canucks just can’t afford it. I am just going to state why letting Markstrom walk isn’t the worst idea. I should also note this contract (if the Canucks re-sign him) likely won’t age well.

Thatcher Demko

First of all, there is Thatcher Demko. He is the goalie of the future. In those three games against the Vegas Golden Knights, he practically carried the team on his back and showed us he can be a starter in the NHL. You might be telling me, “but that was only three games!” Yes, that is true, but those were three games in the playoffs against a very good Golden Knights team and I don’t think anyone could have predicted for Demko to perform that well.

In the regular season. Demko did have his struggles. He posted a 3.06 goals-against average and a 0.905 save percentage. Not the greatest numbers, but decent for a rookie. However, there were times where Demko showed flashes of the goalie he could potentially become with some big saves that gave the Canucks a chance to win.

The 24-year-old netminder has shown he can take over the number one spot and is only going to get better. He did it twice during the regular season in Markstrom’s absence, and it did it again in the playoffs.

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