These past few years haven’t been the greatest for 24-year-old Jacob Markstrom. Once touted as the best goaltender not in the National Hockey League, Markstrom struggled to establish himself as a legitimate NHL caliber starter with the basement dwelling Florida Panthers.
Markstrom was then traded to the Vancouver Canucks as part of the Roberto Luongo deal, and didn’t get to start a game until the season finale against the Calgary Flames (this was of course, after John Tortorella ran Eddie Lack into the ground, starting him for 19 consecutive contests.)
To make matters worse, the Canucks went out and signed longtime Buffalo Sabre Ryan Miller over the summer, all but ensuring that Markstrom would see next to no NHL action this season.
All this was capped off by the fact that he wasn’t just put on waivers, but not claimed either. Yes, not a single National Hockey League club felt they needed a free, promising goaltending prospect. That kind of stuff will do bad things for a guy’s confidence. But if Markstrom’s early play in the American Hockey League (with the Utica Comets) is any indicator, the 6’6 Swede has put all that behind him.
Saying Markstrom has been sensational would be a vast understatement. He has been as close to perfect as you can get. Through four games this season, Markstrom has posted a GAA of 0.25 and save percentage of .991 (!!!), allowing only one goal on 109 shots. Not only that, but Markstrom is only 36 minutes and five seconds away from setting the AHL’s consecutive shutout record, a record currently held by Barry Brust (268:17 minutes of consecutive shutout hockey.)
Markstrom had something to prove, both to his hockey club, and to himself, and he certainly has in both respects.
This situation could not be better for the Vancouver Canucks. If they decide to keep Markstrom, excellent. His play has clearly proven that he still has tremendous upside. If they decide to move him, great. His value has upped significantly over the past couple of weeks, and they could get a nice return for him. Of course, the best possible scenario would be for him to develop into the game-breaking goalie he was hyped up to be early in his career, but I have a hard time finding a bad scenario for Vancouver. In any case, he’s making a lot of teams feel pretty stupid for passing on him at this point.
Now, does his early excellence make him a surefire future Vezina winner? Of course not. Is he going to keep this up? I doubt it, but it does give Canucks fans something to be excited about, and is a promising sign for the future of Jacob Markstrom as a Canuck.
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