VANCOUVER – It’s been a long time since Braden Holtby was part of a true goalkeeping tandem. It’s been a long time since the Vancouver Canucks needed one too.
But when starting goalkeeper Jacob Markstrom drove across the Rocky Mountains to the Calgary Flames on Friday, the Canucks grabbed Holtby from the free agency by signing the Washington Capitals Stanley Cup and Vezina Trophy winners and a two-year deal with goalkeeper Thatcher Demko from Vancouver.
Markstrom’s departure and Demko’s stay may have cost Canucks star defender Oliver Ekman-Larsson when trade talks with the Arizona Coyotes ended and Vancouver general manager Jim Benning refused to include Demko in a deal.
Benning knew that Markstrom would likely leave for an extended term and a no-move clause, and had to keep Demko.
Landing a goalkeeper like Holtby for $ 8.6 million over two years softened the blow of losing Markstrom and saved Benning some money to use to bolster the Canucks’ defense.
The GM said Friday he hoped free agent defender Chris Tanev would sign with the Canucks as early as Saturday morning.
But Benning had also said for months that his top priority was to re-sign his No. 1 goalkeeper. It was still disappointing to see Markstrom, who grew to a top 10 starter in the National Hockey League under Canuck’s goalkeeping coach Ian Clark, join the team’s arch-rivals.
“I was joking with Ian this morning, ‘You’re doing too good a job with our goalkeepers,'” Benning told reporters. “‘They’re taking them to a point where we can no longer afford to keep them.’ He laughed, but we’re happy for Jacob.
“Getting Braden Holtby is just a great person first of all. He’s a total team player. He looks forward to working with Ian. He looks forward to coming to Vancouver and joining our organization, excited about our young players and ours Team. So we think it will be a good fit. “
Friday would have been a lot worse for the Canucks had it not been for Holtby. One of the first things he did after signing was to ask for Demko’s phone number so he could introduce himself to the 24-year-old who had just finished his rookie season and was groomed as a future starter since joining the Canucks in 2014 at Benning had selected first NHL draft with Vancouver.
“I had two things that we were looking for as a family: a great place to live and a great chance to win and (Vancouver) crossed both boxes,” Holtby told Sportsnet. “I think this team has a real chance to win a Stanley Cup and that’s all I’m looking for.”
The 31-year-old from Lloydminster, Sask., Has been the clear number 1 capital city for the past eight seasons. He won a Stanley Cup in 2018 and the Vezina in 2016, but that past season was easily Holtby’s poorest in the NHL. His savings percentage fell from his career average of 0.916 to 0.897.
Partly why he was a relatively good deal on Friday, accepting a two-year deal to play closer to the home of a Canadian team that was just making the playoffs for the first time in five years, but for the seventh game of the semi-finals Western Conference went.
“This year it was difficult to know that it was probably the end (in Washington),” said Holtby. “It wasn’t easy; you make a lot of really good relationships. Mitch Korn, our old goalkeeping coach in Washington, always said, ‘This is not a game of pucks, it’s a game of people.’ You really know it’s true when you’re in a situation like this, that’s life (but) I look forward to making even more of these friendships along the way.
“You’re trying to know your strengths. I think that’s one of the most important things to be successful and to know yourself. I believe in hard work and competitiveness. From an outsider who comes in, I think it’s good will fit. I’m really excited to come after that. “
Holtby accepts that after being “the guy” in the Capitals organization for a decade, he may be sharing the Vancouver network. With another shortened NHL schedule next season, Holtby said the teams will need two goalkeepers who can win.
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New faces in new places. Which new goalkeeper tandem do you think is better? pic.twitter.com/4GQ4HQQrcl
He added that working with Demko under Clark will bring some “young blood” back to him.
“You can only be considered a leader if you actually lead,” said Holtby, whose belief in social justice prevented him from visiting Donald Trump after the Capitals championship at the White House when asked about his role with the Canucks has been. “I think the older you get and the more you play, the more this experience can help you if you use it properly. And it can help others and help teammates and the team in general. My goal is to capitalize on that . “
“The past … isn’t much to think about. It’s more about focusing on the moment.”
Benning has to stay in the moment too.
The Canucks’ other two free agents, Tanev and winger Tyler Toffoli, are still on the market. Benning returned to Tanev Friday after ending trade talks on Ekman-Larsson.
“You’d have to ask them on their side whether we’re close or not,” Benning said of the Coyotes. “We’ve been negotiating all week to see if we can figure something out. We made our final offer to them this morning. They didn’t think it was acceptable, so I just said, ‘Ok, we’ll go on, we’ I did have other business to do. “And that’s exactly what we did.”
Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong reportedly wanted Demko to be involved in any deal for Ekman-Larsson. Benning never thought about it. Another sticking point was how much “bad money” the Coyotes were willing to absorb in exchange for the Canucks, who had taken over the last seven years of Ekman-Larsson’s $ 66 million deal.
The 29-year-old would have become a huge part of the Canucks’ defense. Benning now has to fill in the gaps with a few smaller ones.
“We’ll look at everything,” said Benning. “We look at trades. If there are players, free agents who still make sense, we’ll look at that. We keep all our options open.”
