Salary Cap: Markstrom or Demko?

[VanJack]

With the Knights signing Robin Lehner (5 years at $5m a season) the market has now probably been set for a Markstrom signing either with the Canucks or elsewhere.

What would you do if you were Benning? Sign Markstrom for five years at $5.5m or let him walk and go with Demko? But if you sign him, would you dangle Demko as trade bait for some picks or prospects, which they're short of-- considering that you still have DiPietro in the pipeline?

Decisions...decisions.

Click to read more...

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

Demko, Solves a lot of Cap issues and is much younger with better potential. Easy logical decision.

 

[Canucks1096]

Sign Markstrom 5 yrs 5.5 M a season however last 3 years it can't have a full ntc clause ( 15 teams max )

2 years after more of a sample size on Demko. Then you decide who to go with.

Expansion draft Give Gaudette to Seattle and asked them not to take Demko.

 

[Bonham]

Markstrom is no doubt the better goaltender at the moment and obviously more seasoned.

That said, I would prefer they roll the dice with Demko. He fits the age of our young core moving forward, is much cheaper, and has looked good in stretches at the NHL level.

It would help solve some of the cap issues moving forward. Hopefully they can look for a suitable 1B.

 

[StreetHawk]

Markstrom is no doubt the better goaltender at the moment and obviously more seasoned.

That said, I would prefer they roll the dice with Demko. He fits the age of our young core moving forward, is much cheaper, and has looked good in stretches at the NHL level.

It would help solve some of the cap issues moving forward. Hopefully they can look for a suitable 1B.

That would only be temporary cap savings.

let’s say they sign Markstrom for $5.5 per. The next season the Canucks are at like $6.6 mill against the cap with both if they manage to not give out a nmc. If they do then demko is gone and a cheap backup comes in around the same as Demko.

now if you let Markstrom walk then you bring in a better 1B goalie vs a veteran backup. Price would be $2.5 mill or so for that guy. Now if Demko does play well he is rfa in 2021 so look for a short term deal for him in the mid $3 mill range like binnington or what marky got on his last deal. Still can’t go super cheap on a backup yet so still in the $1.5 mill or more for a backup. So that is still $5 mill to $5.5 mill on goalie costs in two years if it goes the way you hope.

but any savings is still good.
And I would roll with Demko just like all other clubs do going with the younger option in nets.

 

[Bonham]

That would only be temporary cap savings.

let’s say they sign Markstrom for $5.5 per. The next season the Canucks are at like $6.6 mill against the cap with both if they manage to not give out a nmc. If they do then demko is gone and a cheap backup comes in around the same as Demko.

now if you let Markstrom walk then you bring in a better 1B goalie vs a veteran backup. Price would be $2.5 mill or so for that guy. Now if Demko does play well he is rfa in 2021 so look for a short term deal for him in the mid $3 mill range like binnington or what marky got on his last deal. Still can’t go super cheap on a backup yet so still in the $1.5 mill or more for a backup. So that is still $5 mill to $5.5 mill on goalie costs in two years if it goes the way you hope.

but any savings is still good.
And I would roll with Demko just like all other clubs do going with the younger option in nets.

After this season, Sutter, Baertschi, Pearson, Benn and Edler are off the Cap which is approximately $20M.

The season after Eriksson (thank God), Rousell and Beagle are gone as well as the Luongo recapture which is another $15M+.

At that point, Petey and Hughes will have their extensions and hopefully Demko will have settled into the starters role. They will have a lot of roster flexibility and will not be tied to an aging Markstrom.

This is all provided that no additional long term anchors are added between now and then.

 

[Didalee Hed]

At that point, Petey and Hughes will have their extensions and hopefully Demko will have settled into the starters role. They will have a lot of roster flexibility and will not be tied to an aging Markstrom.

This is all provided that no additional long term anchors are added between now and then.

Depends entirely on who is in charge. The man currently in the chair has a zero percent chance of not spending hand over fist the second he has money available.

 

[Fatass]

Sign Marky and trade Demko for Carlo and picks.

 

[Canucks1096]

Sign Marky and trade Demko for Carlo and picks.

A backup goalie that has a potential to be a number 1 goalie is not worth a top 4 and picks.

 

[krutovsdonut]

sign marky with no nmc. keep demko. let the season unfold.

 

[vanarchy]

Jim's gunna hit us with the the

 

[SelltheTeamFrancesco]

This is easy Demko look what happened to Sergei Bobrovsky after he left Ian Clark. Look at Markstroms numbers before Clark and after their is huge difference. One above average season and a great season doesn't scream 5 × 5. Let the Oilers sign him and be Bob 2.0. Their are so many warnings signs that even at a discount I wouldn't sign him. Get Corey Crawford he had pretty good numbers on a bad defensive team.

 

[Bleach Clean]

Jim's gunna hit us with the the

Which only pushes the ball further for 1 year.

I think he goes with both options in the short-term, which means Markstrom is re-signed, which then means Demko will be traded.

DET makes for the perfect location for Demko + Cap Dump (Eriksson).

 

[tiny103]

Convince the King to play here for a few years with Demko

 

[Paulinvancouver]

We won’t get Marky for 5.5. It’s time for him to go.

 

[Cancuks]

How many goaltenders break out at age 30 and become Vezina candidates? Tim Thomas? Markstrom played well last season but I think he is easily replaceable by one of the cheaper free agents or via trade. It's time for Demko to take the No. 1. This talk of extending Markstrom and acquiring Ekman Larsson is worrisome given Benning's previous follies. Go with the young players, there will be plenty of quality players available this season and next because of the cap. We don't need half our cap tied up in goaltending and veteran defense and have to fill out our roster with AHL players.

 

[lousy]

Demko, Solves a lot of Cap issues and is much younger with better potential. Easy logical decision.

Easy and logical? That is pushing it... Demko has not yet shown he can play at a high level consistently. That is a risk, which does not make it purely logical

 

[elitepete]

Demko.

 

[Rumsfeld]

This decision sucks, but because of what a complete moron Jim Benning is, we have to make it. For cap reasons we have to go Demko.

 

[F A N]

I don't know why posters are criticizing Benning for being in this situation where you have a 30 year old goalie who has emerged as a top 5-10 goalie who wants to stay and a 24 year old relatively unproven goalie who might be ready to take over the #1 job. Ideally you have the younger goalie beat out the older goalie just as the older goalie's contract expires but that's calling for perfect timing.

This really isn't about cap space as much as whether you want to sign a 30 year old Markstrom to a 5 year contract at around $5M AAV.

Ideally you sign Markstrom to a short term contract at around $5M AAV with little to no NTC protection and no expansion draft protection. But that's not going to happen.

Personally, I think if the Canucks are going to bring Markstrom back, the Canucks should stand firm and not give Markstrom expansion draft protection. That way you can expose him and move on with a more proven Demko if need be.

But if I have to choose, I would roll the dice on Demko being the goalie of the present and future.

How many goaltenders break out at age 30 and become Vezina candidates? Tim Thomas? Markstrom played well last season but I think he is easily replaceable by one of the cheaper free agents or via trade.

Except Markstrom didn't "break out" at age 30. He was "breaking out" just before he turned 29.

 

[Bankerguy]

marky at 5.5 then trade Demko for an upgrade over Stecher.

 

[Bettman Returnz]

I only want to resign marky if it starts with a 5! Anything $6M+ we should just roll with demko and sign a veteran 1b option... save some cap and go with the younger option. Too many “older” players on bad contracts.

 

[CanuckleBerry]

I used to want to retain Markstrom, I was firmly in that camp, because I thought he was absolutely necessary to the team being competitive. The performance of the young core and their drive to win has helped me let go of that. I am more interested now in building out the young core and supplementing it. Very hesitant to sign long-term deals to anyone on the wrong side of 30. If the cap was not so restricting I think there is a tougher decision to make. I would rather at this point build a strong young defence around Demko than sign Markstrom and work with what we have.

 

[StreetHawk]

This decision sucks, but because of what a complete moron Jim Benning is, we have to make it. For cap reasons we have to go Demko.

There is also an Expansion draft coming up.

Markstrom isn't taking a new contract unless he has assurances that he will be a Canuck after the ED. I could see him sign with another team without ED protection so long as it is clear that he's the #1 goalie. He could sign in Carolina without an NMC because the Canes have no other real option.

There is no advantage to Markstrom to sign in Vancouver now because he's not getting an 8 year contract. He's looking at 5 years in the open market, maximum 6, but 5 is realistic.

 

[Nucker101]

Demko

love Marky but at his age I’m not giving him 5 years. I’d go 3 years, maybe 4 if it brings down the AAV down enough to make sense and doesn’t include a full NTC/NMC.

I’m hoping Markstrom is also lenient on ED protection since Seattle is next door. That leaves the window open to still run with Demko long term

He’ll get better offers in the open market than what I’d give him.