SUNRISE, Fla. — Jacob Markstrom was once considered a better goalie than Eddie Lack. The Vancouver Canucks are gambling mightily that he will be again.
The National Hockey League team traded their backup Lack, one of the franchise’s most popular players, to the Carolina Hurricanes this morning for a third-round pick in today’s entry draft and a seventh-rounder next year.
Canuck general manager Jim Benning chose that modest return over whatever he could have fetched for Markstrom, who after an outstanding season in the American League will get another chance at NHL duty next season as Ryan Miller’s backup in Vancouver.