The Vancouver Canucks have a lot of work to do this summer. They lost both of their starting goalies from 12 months ago and they sported one of the worst offenses in the league this last season. In order to address at least one of those, it appears that the team has been on a frenzy reaching out to agents of veteran goaltenders.
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CTV’s Kelcey Brade had this to say:
#Canucks did make contact with Ryan Miller's agent today to see if the UFA goalie would be interested in playing for VAN. @CTVVancouver
— Kelcey Brade (@KelceyBrade) June 25, 2014
Not everyone is crazy about the idea of Miller to Vanoucver though. Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province writes, “Sure (goaltenders) Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom may not be the biggest names in the game. But look at what the Habs got from a kid like Dustin Tokarski, whom they pulled out of their duffs and threw into the fire. Their goaltending was fine even though the kid looked to be something of a technical nightmare.”
There are definitely better values out there in goaltenders than Miller or even Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller, but that doesn’t seem to be dissuading Vancouver GM Jim Benning. Add into that the fact that Miller might not be as pricey of a pickup as some may have thought before his lame duck playoff run with the St. Louis Blues and you may have a smarter play than is given credit for.
If the Canucks could sway Miller into playing for them with a lower cap hit, there’s a chance the team could still turn to making that Ryan Kesler trade they seem to want to make so badly and still come out on top.
The biggest catch? Ryan Miller doesn’t exactly have a sparkling history with Canada. Granted, turning down the Oilers is a bit different from turning down other teams. It still makes sense that the veteran Miller would hesitate to join a Canucks team that is either past its prime or poised for a rebuild.