That's a tidy raise from Markstrom's current cap hit of $1.55 million, but he did enough last year to give the Canucks organization confidence that he's ready to be the No. 1 netminder going forward.
Markstrom played 33 games last year compared to 51 for Ryan Miller, but the two ended the season with nearly identical stats. Markstrom was 13-14-4 with a 2.73 goals-against average and .915 save percentage, while Miller was 17-24-9 with a 2.70 goals-against and .916 save percentage.
Don't forget, Markstrom missed the first month of 2015-16 with that hamstring injury he suffered at the end of preseason, so he didn't play his first game until November 10—that epic 42-save win against Columbus. He probably passed his audition when he went 5-2-2 in that nine-game stretch over Christmas after Ryan Miller suffered that mysterious dehydration/lower body injury in Florida just before the holiday break. Willie Desjardins eventually showed that he had come to trust Markstrom when he alternated his two goalies religiously from the trade deadline until the end of the season.
If you forgot, Eddie Lack starts his new two-year contract with Carolina this season, with a cap hit of $2.75 million. But I'm pretty sure that when Lack signed that deal last summer, the Hurricanes weren't planning on bringing back Cam Ward for another two years, even at a relatively reasonable $3.3 million cap hit. Lack went 12-14-6 in 34 appearances with an improving Hurricanes team last season, with a 2.81 goals-against average and .901 save percentage. Not exactly starter's numbers although Ward's weren't much better: 2.41 GAA and .909 save percentage. And he's 32.
Looks like the Hurricanes are nicely set in net for the expansion draft, anyway. They can protect whichever one of their goalies has the better season in 2016-17.
Here are the salary comparables for Markstrom, who will be 27 when his extension kicks in, a year from now:
Jonathan Bernier, of course, got traded to Anaheim today. As it turns out, he was basically traded for Freddie Andersen, but by structuring the deal in this way, the Leafs used their bottomless piggybank to pay Bernier's $2 million signing bonus on July 1. That means the Ducks still get to claim all of Bernier's $4.15 million cap hit, but will only have to pay him $2.15 million in real dollars.
After all the money the Ducks have earmarked for Ryan Kesler ($6.875 million) and Kevin Bieksa ($4 million), there doesn't seem to be much left for anybody else down in the O.C.!
But I digress. Back to Bernier.
He turns 28 in August, will be a UFA after this season, and had a 12-21-1 record with the Leafs last season, with a .908 save percentage and 2.88 goals-against average.
Steve Mason is also 28 and will be a UFA at the end of the year. He was a solid 23-19-4 with the Flyers last season, with a .918 save percentage and 2.51 goals-against average—slightly better than Markstrom's numbers from last season.
Andrei Vasilevskiy's situation is more similar to Markstrom's. Vasilevskiy is even younger—he turns 22 towards the end of this month—but his deal covers the same three seasons as Markstrom's and it's likely that he's Tampa Bay's goalie of the future given the big raise that Ben Bishop will command when his current contract expires at the end of this season.
Vasilevskiy has played just 40 NHL games so far (and 12 playoff games), compared to a total of 83 games for Markstrom. In the regular season, Vasilevskiy has an 18-15-1 record with a 2.60 GAA and .913 save percentage—not that different from Markstrom's numbers, considering he plays on a good Tampa Bay team. Considering his youth, he may have more upside than Markstrom, but he also carries more uncertainty.
I would also throw in James Reimer's new contract as a comparable. It's for five years and starts right away, but the cap hit is a similar $3.4 million and I assume he'll be starting his career in Florida in a share-the-net situation with Roberto Luongo.
Luongo was merrily tweeting away in his usual self-deprecating fashion on July 1—until the Reimer signing was announced.
Since that moment, he has been radio silent. I'm very curious to see what the big guy has to say about the Reimer situation when he resurfaces.
Anyway—Reimer's career numbers are a 2.78 goals-against and .914 save percentage. He was very good during his short time with the San Jose Sharks but wildly inconsistent during his tenure with the Leafs. I'm not sure what to expect for him in Florida, a team that's making bold moves and thinks it could be a Stanley Cup contender.
While the Luongo/Reimer situation looks like it could be fraught with drama, the Canucks have made some nice moves to make Markstrom happy.
First, he'll be working full time again with new goaltending coach Dan Cloutier, who was an excellent mentor for him during his year with the Utica Comets. Second, he's happy with the signing of fellow Swede Loui Eriksson.
Markstrom on Loui Eriksson: "He's really going to help us win games. I've seen him and the twins play together, they're a great line."
Markstrom's two years older than Gudbranson, but they may be bonded for life after going through this extremely weird Upper Deck Media Training Bootcamp together as Florida Panthers rookies back in 2010.
Bottom line: I like the terms of the contract, I'm thrilled that we won't have to spend the season worrying about possibly losing Markstrom to unrestricted free agency and I'm very pleased with his enthusiasm about the team's situation going forward.
Markstrom: Last year, looking back, felt like a tease. I can't wait to get started and get going. I love the way our team is turning out
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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