Canucks have high hopes for backup goaltender Markstrom
It was a good offseason for 25-year-old Jacob Markstrom, as the Canucks made space for the young netminder to take the next step in his career by trading backup goaltender Eddie Lack to the Hurricanes. Although Canucks fans were not happy to see Lack go, the Canucks organization was very vocal about their excitement to see Markstrom graduate from the AHL to the NHL.
"I think he’s ready for it," Canucks GM Jim Benning said of Markstrom. "What I like aside from being 6-foot-6 and having a good skill set, is that he’s real competitive. He carried his team and if they lost — or he didn’t play particularly well — he had that fire in his eyes to come back the next day and kind of put it on himself that he was going to be the difference. I like that mental toughness in a goalie."
Markstrom saw minimal time with the Canucks last season, but he looked okay in a sole start against the Arizona Coyotes, stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced. The goaltender's development has been a long time coming. Markstrom, a second-round pick in the 2008 Draft, made his first NHL appearance in 2010-11 with the Panthers.
He finally came into his own last season in the AHL when he compiled a 22-7-2 record with a 1.88 goals-against average, and the Canucks rewarded Markstrom with a two-year deal over the summer to become the full-time Vancouver backup goaltender.
"I always wanted to stay here and I’m super happy with how it worked out," Markstrom told the Vancouver Province. "A lot of things were going on up top, and if you start focusing on that it will take away from your focus on the game. I’m excited to get going."
(h/t Vancouver Province)
