thejazz97 Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 With Ryan Miller’s contract completed this off-season, Jacob Markstrom as the expected starter, and Thatcher Demko heating up but not quite there yet, the Canucks are left with a question: who will be their back-up goaltender for the next year or two? First up: Ryan Miller. Re-signing Ryan Miller is the simplest option. He brings a good presence both in the game (as he did with defending Troy Stecher against Matt Martin) as well as outside of it (as he did with Nikolay Goldobin). With leadership qualities and solid goaltending, Miller won’t take away from the rebuild much but will help with developing young players. Miller would likely take up $3-4 million in cap space – a pay cut from the last two seasons, but still a hefty amount. Richard Bachman Another easy option for the Canucks, Bachman is under contract for another year at $650,000. Typically a third-string goaltender, Bachman has shown flashes of brilliance while called up to Vancouver, but isn’t and won’t be world-breaking – especially behind a Canucks squad that could and likely will be pushing for the opportunity to draft defensive wonder Rasmus Dahlin. Brian Elliott Coming off a downright terrible season, Brian Elliott is a half-decent goaltender who would come at a bargain bin price, perhaps somewhere between $1.5 and 2 million for a year or two. At this point, the Canucks would be conceding any hopes of the playoffs and completely accept the rebuild. However, if Elliott starts looking somewhat good again, he could be used as a) trade bait for a playoff team, or the back-up for Thatcher Demko. Artyom Zagidulin While Canucks fans may be skittish towards Russians outside of Goldobin after Nikita Tryamkin’s exit, Zagidulin would be an interesting experiment. He’s 21, 6’2, and about 10 lbs heavier than Ryan Miller. His numbers in both the KHL and VHL have been nothing to sniff at either – 0.78 GAA / .962 S% in four games with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, 1.47 GAA/ .947 S% in six games with Kunlun Red Star, and 1.62 GAA / .934 S% in nine games with Yuzhny Ural Orsk of the VHL. Again, Zagidulin would be purely an experiment, but one that could pay off in the future. (This is from my article here.) Who do you guys want to see as back-up for next season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerrDrFunk Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 I'm behind Bachman being the back-up next year. As much as I've come around on Miller, I'd rather not have him on the books for the next two years. I'm sure he'd rather try and get a contract with one of the California teams for family reasons anyway. Zagidulin numbers are intriguing though. I wonder how much money it would take for him to sign here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni Zamboni Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 miller number 1 with 1 year ext. marky as back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar baby watermelon Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 say see ya later to Miller and pass the reins to Markstrom and Bachman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 If we're going to spend money and give term, it shouldn't be Miller. Over 35 contracts suck. If we're looking to get a legit backup or even starter I'd prefer we give Darling a chance on a 3 year deal vs Miller for 2. But I'm also very OK with the "do nothing" plan and run with Marky and Bachman, they are already on the books and that leaves 6 mil to go after some new D like Alzner or maybe eat a bad contract and get more 1st round picks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatedkid666 Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Considering Miller will want a multi year-NMC contract I'll go with Darling. Don't think Bachman will last over a full season, especially considering how he could end up playing a decent amount of games if Markstrom doesn't pan out. I think Darling could be more like a Talbot/Jones more then like a Bernier/Scrivens, if you catch my drift. Zagidulin looks intriguing but is a pretty big risk, and with Markstrom not a sure thing starer we might not want to take the chance. Maybe Markstrom and then backup as Zagidulin/Bachman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 I wouldn't mind Elliott (or similar) at a reasonable hit and term $2m'ish for 2 years just in time to bring Demko up 2 TDL's from now (hopefully move Elliott for a 3rd, 4th or package at that time). Miller's been great but it's time to give Marky the reigns IMO and I doubt he signs for under $4m or less than 2 years which is a lot to tie up in goaltending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyHatnDart Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Won't we be needing to expose Bachman for the expansion draft? Regardless, he got my vote. His play was quite stellar coming in cold and I think he's earned his shot in this organization to try and make a career in the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 4 minutes ago, ThaShady1 said: Won't we be needing to expose Bachman for the expansion draft? Are you concerned LVK take him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyHatnDart Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 4 minutes ago, J.R. said: Are you concerned LVK take him? To be fair, I haven't actually looked around the league to see what goaltenders will be available to LVK. His play towards the end end of the season certainly had my attention, and assumedly LV will be needing goaltenders for the minors as well, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Just now, ThaShady1 said: To be fair, I haven't actually looked around the league to see what goaltenders will be available to LVK. His play towards the end end of the season certainly had my attention, and assumedly LV will be needing goaltenders for the minors as well, no? They can sign UFA goalies, trade for them for cheap etc. They're not going to take a 3rd string goalie over a #4D (Sbisa) or young forward (Gaunce). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mll Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 44 minutes ago, S'all Good Man said: If we're going to spend money and give term, it shouldn't be Miller. Over 35 contracts suck. If we're looking to get a legit backup or even starter I'd prefer we give Darling a chance on a 3 year deal vs Miller for 2. But I'm also very OK with the "do nothing" plan and run with Marky and Bachman, they are already on the books and that leaves 6 mil to go after some new D like Alzner or maybe eat a bad contract and get more 1st round picks. Darling is expected to be a starter next year. How are you counting cap space? The Canucks use the full cap with Burrows and Miller and Hansen so 12.5M coming off the books. Dorsett and Gudbranson are no longer on LTIR next year. They've already used 4M (increases to Hutton and Markstrom) - it leaves 8.5M for the increase to Horvat and Gudbranson, a backup goalie and two roster players for Burrows and Hansen. Move a D or lose one to Vegas could create some space but unless they plan bigger changes to the roster I don't see where there is 6M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyHatnDart Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 2 minutes ago, J.R. said: They can sign UFA goalies, trade for them for cheap etc. They're not going to take a 3rd string goalie over a #4D (Sbisa) or young forward (Gaunce). That's certainly true. I'll have to go over the expansion draft rules to clarify for myself. Sbisa likely scares them away at his contract price. Those of us watching the last 3 years know he's been improving for sure, but a casual look at his overall numbers might warrant them not choosing him. I figure Gaunce will be their target. Young enough for lots of growth and already with 77 games under his belt. All I know is that with the 3rd best % in this draft and the ability to choose some pretty good talent, LVK should hit the ground running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Nirvanagut Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 I would love for Scott Darling to sign with Vancouver. But I'm sure the likely tandem next year will be Markstrom/Bachman with Bachman getting way more starts than anyone expects when Markstrom inevitably hits the IL 2-3 times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 6 minutes ago, mll said: Darling is expected to be a starter next year. How are you counting cap space? The Canucks use the full cap with Burrows and Miller and Hansen so 12.5M coming off the books. Dorsett and Gudbranson are no longer on LTIR next year. They've already used 4M (increases to Hutton and Markstrom) - it leaves 8.5M for the increase to Horvat and Gudbranson, a backup goalie and two roster players for Burrows and Hansen. Move a D or lose one to Vegas could create some space but unless they plan bigger changes to the roster I don't see where there is 6M. i was just talking about Millers 6 mil that would be freed up. Cap friendly has us at 17,375,000 in cap space for next season as of today. https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/canucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuckYa Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 11 minutes ago, ThaShady1 said: That's certainly true. I'll have to go over the expansion draft rules to clarify for myself. Sbisa likely scares them away at his contract price. Those of us watching the last 3 years know he's been improving for sure, but a casual look at his overall numbers might warrant them not choosing him. I figure Gaunce will be their target. Young enough for lots of growth and already with 77 games under his belt. All I know is that with the 3rd best % in this draft and the ability to choose some pretty good talent, LVK should hit the ground running. Seems to me that Sbisa at his current contract is worth a lot more than Gaunce to any NHL team including ours. So if I can figure that out LV sure can too. They'll take Sbisa over Gaunce just like I would. Then LV decides if they want to keep Sbisa or trade him for 2 Gaunces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 22 minutes ago, ThaShady1 said: Sbisa likely scares them away at his contract price. Those of us watching the last 3 years know he's been improving for sure, but a casual look at his overall numbers might warrant them not choosing him. Do you think McPhee and Co. are only going to take a 'casual look' at the pieces they'll be selecting to build the team and impact their performance for the foreseeable future? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nucker 67 Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Let Miller walk, as much as I like him and still think he's a very good goalie. The Canucks aren't competitive right now, so it doesn't matter much if they get top notch goaltending. It's time for Markstrom to show what he's got. Bachman proved to be a decent backup when they needed hm. Give him a shot with the big club. If the Canucks end up near the bottom again, it won't be because of goaltending, it'll be because they can't score. Like last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreyHatnDart Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 5 minutes ago, J.R. said: Do you think McPhee and Co. are only going to take a 'casual look' at the pieces they'll be selecting to build the team and impact their performance for the foreseeable future? No need to cherry pick my comment. Of course they won't, they'll be looking at underlying numbers same as anyone else, once they target in on players. I meant more it depends on their plan of building. If they have a sheet of every defenceman available to them to choose from, Sbisa's name might not jump out at them. If they have a team-by-team style analysis, then likely he's the first guy they choose from the Canucks. I feel like they'll have a better top 4 available to them than Sbisa, and a contract of his cap hit for a 5/6 defender will only be taken by them if they need to get to the cap floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250Integra Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Brian Elliott will be the extra bump to get us into that 31st overall position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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