"We could've moved Ryan Miller. There were teams calling on Ryan Miller." - Jim Benning

[slaythedragon]

Nah, might as well let the Nellies here get it out of their system now. Come September they'll hopefully get onboard with the program.

Uhh.. It's CDC.

[Baggins]

Yikes! Benning's other moves were defendable, Miller for Lack is a tough one. Miller is the better goalie but capspace, age and Canucks won't be competing this year anyways.

He's the bridge goalie. That was apparent the moment he was signed. Just as one of Lack or Markstrom would get moved was apparent.

[Baggins]

Nah, might as well let the Nellies here get it out of their system now. Come September they'll hopefully get onboard with the program.

They can't get on board with something they don't understand.

[Lui's Knob]

Ugh. Should not of said that. Lack and markstrom would of been part of the new core. No need for miller and his 12 mill contract for next 2 seasons.

[westcoast]

I would have shipped him out if it was a good fit,will be a frustrating year here for him as it was when Buffalo crashed and burned.It is what it is .

[Mr.53]

As Benning said, Lack was traded for to be a backup. He was NOT traded for to be a starter. His role is to be a backup, who has enough talent to push Cam Ward to his full level, and maybe, MAYBE Lack will outplay him and earn the starting job. But again, he was traded for to be a backup. I understand he's such a lovable guy, but people are acting like Eddie Lack is Cory Schneider or something. He's a hard worker, with a great and lovable personality, but as of right now, the whole league sees him as a backup. Miller is a bonifide starter, and perrenial all star. He even has the talent to be an all star next season.

Plus, Ryan Miller is the guy you want teaching Jacob Markstrom the ropes of the NHL and how to be succesful. Not Eddie Lack. I love the guy, but people let the fact that he was a good guy cloud their judgement and give him more value than he has

[DownUndaCanuck]

Trading Miller would have gotten us no better return than Lack, and would leave us with Lack-Markstrom as a duo.

No offence to either of them, I'm sure they'll both be great goalies soon but that tandem is on par with the Leaf's, Oiler's and Sabre's goaltending duos. You simply cannot have great success with two relatively inexperienced goaltenders AND a shoddy defence. Teams like Anaheim and Chicago have gotten away with inexperienced goalies because they have brilliant, deep defences in front of them but you put that same sort of goaltending behind a shaky defence like Vancouver's and they'll collapse.

Miller is a veteran goalie and held our defence together at times last season. He has the same effect on our team that Luongo did and that has been the biggest difference between this Canucks team and a bottom feeder. Our defence is woeful and these veterans have been holding it together.

[bigbadcanucks]

to bad they didnt eddie is a better goalie youll see him dominate this yr watch him be top 10 in nhl

This dude^^^^doing a great desi impression. And just as insightful as desi.

Back on topic...

Like it or not, Benning feels like Miller gives the Canucks the best chance to be respectable. Gonna state the obvious...goaltending is the most important position in hockey and a good veteran goalie will mask a lot of deficiencies in a team. And we all know that the team is riddled with deficiencies going into 2015-2016.

When Miller was on, which was 75% of the time, he was really good. When he was off (the remaining 25% of the time), he was horrible. I still think Miller is overpaid and should have only been signed for two years, but of all the goalies on the Canucks roster going into draft day, Miller gives the Canucks the best chance to win.

Hopefully with his wife and kid near him all the time, he will be able to concentrate solely on hockey this coming season.

And as far as Lack is concerned, we got him for nothing and by developing him the right way, he netted Willy Brisebois. If Linden is right with his prognostication of where Brisebois will end up, this will have been a great move for the Canucks.

[Gaudette Celly]

They can't get on board with something they don't understand.

Indeed, the very next post...

Ugh. Should not of said that. Lack and markstrom would of been part of the new core. No need for miller and his 12 mill contract for next 2 seasons.

[slaythedragon]

Trading Miller would have gotten us no better return than Lack, and would leave us with Lack-Markstrom as a duo.

No offence to either of them, I'm sure they'll both be great goalies soon but that tandem is on par with the Leaf's, Oiler's and Sabre's goaltending duos. You simply cannot have great success with two relatively inexperienced goaltenders AND a shoddy defence. Teams like Anaheim and Chicago have gotten away with inexperienced goalies because they have brilliant, deep defences in front of them but you put that same sort of goaltending behind a shaky defence like Vancouver's and they'll collapse.

Miller is a veteran goalie and held our defence together at times last season. He has the same effect on our team that Luongo did and that has been the biggest difference between this Canucks team and a bottom feeder. Our defence is woeful and these veterans have been holding it together.

You Sir +1. But too bad no one gets it here. They would rather be Edmonton 2.0 and be happy with tanking intentionally.

[elvis15]

Here comes the crap storm

Please keep in mind.

1 would we have had to eat some of his contract

2 that one of Markstrom or Lack would have probably walked in the next 2-3 years

3 the return was probably lower than what we got from Lack

4 We would be having the same problems next year, but Lack could have walked for nothing

1. We don't know that for sure, but possibly
2. We definitely don't know that, more likely that one doesn't pan out or is traded than one walking
3. Probably, but not that it was significantly lower and we'd gain cap so it might be a wash
4. I'd rather cross that bridge if it gets built, and again we don't know that Lack would walk at any point

We know from Lack himself he wanted to stay. It's likely he would have done so at a discount.

We know that Markstrom has been a very good AHL goalie but just the opposite in the NHL for a few years now. It's possible he never ends up doing anything for us.

We know Miller is a stop gap only really here for the duration of his contract and to mentor. His standard of play isn't what it used to be but we don't know how far it'll fall.

Please keep that in mind.

Keeping Miller will be essential in Markstrom's development. Benning is thinking 3/4/5 years down the line, which is whats best for this team. Much better than Lack mentoring Markstrom IMO. The same process is happening to the rest of the roster gradually. Too bad the Canucks fanbase lacks patience and wants benning shot..

3/4/5/ years down the line when Demko is ready and Markstrom still might not have done anything at the NHL level? I like Markstrom's skill set and think he has a chance, but that's a big gamble when he's literally had no positive NHL experience. Lack could have easily been the stop gap and performed well enough for us, if not very well.

[Gaudette Celly]

You Sir +1. But too bad no one gets it here. They would rather be Edmonton 2.0 and be happy with tanking intentionally.

Nah, we're increasing in numbers, including even some in the obtuse local media. The clueless ones are just ranting but many will become quieter as time goes by.

[slaythedragon]

Nah, we're increasing in numbers, including even some in the obtuse local media. The clueless ones are just ranting but many will become quieter as time goes by.

The media has always been a troll. But surprisingly after all these years, the apparent fans on here let the media troll them. I must say CDC never ceases to amaze me.

[bigbadcanucks]

Keeping Miller will be essential in Markstrom's development. Benning is thinking 3/4/5 years down the line, which is whats best for this team. Much better than Lack mentoring Markstrom IMO. The same process is happening to the rest of the roster gradually. Too bad the Canucks fanbase lacks patience and wants benning shot..

This whole "mentorship"in the NHL is grossly over-rated. By the time a player has been a pro for 3-4 years (Markstrom's been playing pro hockey for 7 years), he knows exactly what he needs to do to be successful. If the player still goofs around and thinks he's a rock star at this point, it's not likely that any "mentorship" will change that. The things Markstrom will benefit from Miller is observing how a guy like Miller prepares for games and how Miller reacts and behaves after good and bad games. That's just a younger guy observing a vet more than anything else.

What is going to give Markstrom the best chance at succeeding in the NHL are his god-given talents, his will to succeed, and working with Rollie the Goalie on a daily basis vs. Dan Cloutier the goalie consultant.

Bottom line with Eddie Lack...as good as Eddie was at times, Jim Benning and company didn't think he was good enough to be a starter for the Canucks. And with Eddie being 27 yo, the brass put their money on Markstrom. I don't think Benning is a genius (far from it actually), but this one was a no brainer.

[elvis15]

I'll say this though, calling is not the same as viable offers. If they weren't teams that Miller might waive for, or they asking for too much/giving too little then I don't blame Benning for not taking them. I'd have been happy to get any cap space and return at all and let Lack and Markstrom run with it though.

I wonder how much Aquilini is steering this direction though.

[DrChill]

They could have, but decided not.

Personality aside, they just weren't sold on Lack. Not everyone will agree with their decision, but time will tell if it was a good one.

Agreed. Seem to think Markstrom has more potential and Miller is stop gap

[LaBamba]

He said they received calls for him, which means nothing.

Exactly, it's completely useless information. It almost seems like he was trying to justify his decision by implying interest for Miller.

I don't understand why he would poke the hornets nest with a response like that. The guy is almost too translucent.

[BCNeil]

to bad they didnt eddie is a better goalie youll see him dominate this yr watch him be top 10 in nhl

Of course in reality he will play 25 games and likely win 11-12 if he plays well.

[Gaudette Celly]

The media has always been a troll. But surprisingly after all these years, the apparent fans on here let the media troll them. I must say CDC never ceases to amaze me.

It's a pity party mentality alright, and they feed off each other in a synchronistic manner (prime example, the obsession over backup goalies), which simply perpetuates itself. I guess that's why it never stops, no matter how well or poorly the team does.

[bigbadcanucks]

We are all aware of the JB and TL "goalie plan" ok. The difficulty for many is that its a sh** plan. This team is at a crossroads and there is no way 6 mill for and ageing Ryan Miller makes any sense to anyone other than Benning. The reasoning is paper thin and just doesn't wash. Its asinine for a cap strapped team to be trading an up and coming and cheaper Eddie Lack for table scraps.

So riddle me this...if you had $4.9M in extra cap space, what would you do with it right now? You realize that at this point in time, a UFA coming in at $6M-$7M is going to make the Canucks marginally better than they are now. Does that push the Canucks into the second round of the playoffs? Hard to say, but I'd wager it's a long shot and with what the Canucks have in Miller and Markstrom gives them pretty much the same chance to achieve this.

Like it or not, the team is rebuilding. A team in rebuild mode needs reliable veteran goaltending to give them confidence and a chance to win most nights. This team isn't going to challenge for the cup over the two years remaining on Miller's contract. Miller knows that. Benning knows that. 99% of Canucks fans know that. Miller is still here and being overpaid because he gives the Canucks the best chance to be competitive (when compared to Lack) while they wait for Baertschi, Virtanen, McCann, Cassels, Gaunce, Clendening, Corrado, Boesser, Brisebois, Subban, et. al. to prove they can play in the NHL.