Benning could look at trading Eddie Lack - Article

[Guest]

http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/763884

Eddie Lack has a bright future ahead of him in the NHL, but it may not be with the Vancouver Canucks.

The 27-year-old netminder, who was impressive enough to earn the starting job in the postseason over veteran Ryan Miller - eventually losing it by series end - could be traded if he doesn't fit the team's long-term plans.

From Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun:

Benning signed Miller to a three-year, $18-million deal that keeps him as a member of the Canucks until the end of 2016-17, which could mean Lack may not get the minutes a prime goaltender with a decent track record as a starter may deserve.

Canucks general manager Jim Benning said Tuesday the team will make a decision on its goaltending before the entry draft in June and if Lack isn’t part of the long-term plan, the club will try to trade him rather than risk losing him as an unrestricted free agent after next season.

Talks between Lack's camp and the Canucks have started.

"We've had preliminary talks with Eddie's agent and we know what it's going to take to get him signed," Benning said. "We're bringing in all our pro scouts and we'll meet here in the next couple of weeks … and as a group make that decision."

Lack made 41 regular season appearances, posting a record of 18-13-4 with a goals-against average of 2.45 and got into four postseason contests, not faring as well with a GAA of 3.03 and a record of 1-3.

I know there's tons of goalie threads already, but I thought this probably deserved it's own thread.

I'd hate to see Lack be traded. I think he's our best bet right now. He played on par with Miller and he'd be the man moving forward.

[Qwags]

Inb4 goaltending controversy.

EDIT: I'd rather keep Lack than Miller, honestly.

[aGENT]

Funny, I thought we were keeping all the goalies forever.

[JohnLocke]

Trade him for 9th overall and draft Bo Horvat

[Miltt]

Trade Miller Higgins and Sbisa to the Sharks for a 2015 1st. Run with Lack and Marky next year and try to win the Cup.

[IbanezRG]

This by far makes the most sense, goalies in the pipeline make Lack expendable.

Trade Lack while his value is high, it's not like he's all weve got for a backup, however, we trade miller and Lack has a poor season, we have literally no one ready to stop the puck full time yet.

Lack/Markstrom tandem = lottery pick next year, good luck convincing the season ticket holders on that one.

[thejazz97]

We have so much goaltending depth now, even after we signed O'Conn - what? we didn't? Oh...

[lucky_nucker]

Not surprising. We kind of have to trade a goalie.

If the return for Lack helps this team more than having him play back up to Miller then do it.

I would rather trade Miller though, but just don't see that happening.

[Provost]

I don't know that it is a foregone conclusion that Lack is the odd man out. There are a lot of scenarios that mean Miller is the one out the door. He still has a lot of name recognition and is still a great goalie.

[Warhippy]

With the glut of goalies on the market right now

Trading Lack instead of Miller and his $6 million hit is...really not going to net the club much at all

Don't expect much

[Spotted Zebra]

I'd be happy trading either one of lack or miller. Either we clear 6m of cap space and allow us to improve in other areas, or gain an appreciable asset in return for lack.

As long as we aren't in this position 2 years from now with these two I'll be happy

[Nuxfanabroad]

Just throw anyone in there..now we've got Sbisa locked up safely, what else could matter?

[ice orca]

Bye Bye Eddie, that 3rd round pick we get is going to get us more meat n taters.

[TheAntar]

With the glut of goalies on the market right now

Trading Lack instead of Miller and his $6 million hit is...really not going to net the club much at all

Don't expect much

I would expect nearly nothing. But it would still make our team better. Spend the money on a younger guy to bolster the d or get another sniper.

While we're at it drop Higgins for a prospect or pick too for even more bonus points.

[-SN-]

I'd rather trade Miller.

It's frustrating that we've developed two great goalies recently just to trade them away.

[Boudrias]

Hoping it is Millar that is traded. IMO Miller can bring a greater return. Lack has shown enough potential that gambling on him is worth that risk. In return for moving Miller Van relieves the CAP

hit and can spend it on bolstering the d-core where help is most needed. Miller also has potential of

returning a draft pick in a deep draft. The roster timeline does not support retaining Miller.

The Canucks are far behind in their depth chart and the number of prospects. They will not be serious contenders for a few years at best. Quite simply Van does not have the luxury of keeping Miller.

[Kaner]

I'd rather trade Miller.

It's frustrating that we've developed two great goalies recently just to trade them away.

[Tystick]

Looking at this situation with 2 things in mind.

1. Who's most valuable of all our goaltenders right now?

2. Who's capable of taking the number 1 spot full time?

So we have Miller, Lack, and Markstrom being the only real options going forward.

Miller has plenty of value with two years left on his contract as a proven No. 1 goaltender.

Lack is increasing his value. He's young and beginning to prove himself as a consistent No. 1.

Markstrom is young but has done nothing to prove he can play in the NHL for more than a game or two. But with his AHL numbers in mind, he's still an intriguing asset.

So that being said, looking at what's best for the team next year and keeping the future in mind.

It makes complete sense to me that Miller will be traded.

We essentially obtained a highly valued free asset in Ryan Miller last offseason, and if our plans are to go forward with Eddie Lack, we should take complete advantage of his value.

We could obtain a young top 6 forward with Miller as the centerpiece.

Or possibly another top 15 first round pick.

Eddie Lack is already well liked by the fans, chanting his name after every big save. When have we seen something similar to this before? Luongo.

He's also impressively mentally strong. We began to see this during the Torts era, and even Torts himself was impressed (If he still holds any credibility around here).

Lack also got us into the playoffs, with that incredible stretch of starts. Although he fatigued at the end, it was still impressive how night after night he kept the team in it.

Lack may not be ready yet, we still have to see a solid 60 games out of him.

But the constant appears to be he's improving every season.

Lastly Markstrom.

He has no real value to even be considered in a trade now. I think it would be smart if the management kept him as a backup for Lack next year to get some real NHL experience and hopefully (crossing fingers) boost his value for another trade down the road.

Plus Lack and Markstrom used to be a duo in Sweden.

This is what makes sense to me.

Lack is here to stay till Demko takes over.

[Apple Juice]

Everyone knows Miller's contract is only a bridge contract for the team to develop Lack and Markstrom. Lack is the guy who's staying and Miller will most likely be finding a new home within the next 3 years. We signed Miller to give him a chance to redeem himself and regain his confidence and be a starter while mentoring Lack into what it takes to be a full time starter. Keep Lack, trade Miller.

[ice orca]

I'd rather trade Miller.

It's frustrating that we've developed two great goalies recently just to trade them away.

The problem is you are not going to get the return Scneids got with Eddie, too much of a glut in the goalie market right now. Miller is almost untradable with the nice little NTC he supposedly has.