Green stays cagey on No. 1 goalie
New Canucks coach says he’ll watch how the cards fall before letting the pucks fly
It will surely work its way up his list, but right now Travis Green claims the Vancouver Canucks’ goaltending situation isn’t a priority.
When reached late this week, the new head coach of the hockey team was worrying far more about his teenage daughter’s high school graduation and plans for furthering her education in the fall.
And when that isn’t top of mind, Green says he’s busy pouring over video of the team he has inherited, and working diligently to finalize the staff that will work alongside him on the Canucks bench next season. He hopes to have those pieces in place before the June 23-24 NHL draft in Chicago.
Then, he’ll get around to figuring out what his goaltending will look like next season. While the crease situation remains cloudy, with Ryan Miller set to become an unrestricted free agent at month’s end, Green has no doubt that Jacob Markstrom has what it takes to be a No. 1 netminder in the best league on the planet.
That doesn’t mean the new coach is declaring the 27-year-old his starter, but it certainly echoes the comments of general manager Jim Benning earlier in the week that Markstrom possesses the skills needed to one day command the crease on a nightly basis.
“I think he’s a guy who is a potential No. 1 goalie in the NHL,” Green says over the phone from his off-season home in Southern California.
“He’s a competitor. You look at good goalies. It’s the same thing with Miller. Guys that are No. 1 goalies have a bit of a demeanour to them. They’re confident, they believe in themselves not in a cocky way, but they have leadership qualities within them. When I look at Marky — and it’s the same way I look at Miller — I see that. Obviously, I know Markstrom better than Miller, and I know he’s got that drive and that competitiveness. He’s not a guy that just wants to play in the NHL as a backup. He wants to be a starter.”
Green rode Markstrom to an appearance in the American Hockey League finals when the two were together in Utica in 2015, so there is a pre-existing trust in place.
But until Green knows his options between the pipes, it’s impossible to project Markstrom’s workload. That was something the two discussed shortly after Green was hired in mid-April.
“I’ve talked to Jacob,” he explains. “We had a good a conversation.”
Green reached out to Miller, too, to get a better sense of where the veteran netminder stands as far his future is concerned. But he says he doesn’t know where Miller plans to play next season.
“It wasn’t anything more than talking to him like I talked to every other guy on the team,” Green says. “I wanted his thoughts. I wanted to talk a little bit about where he wanted to play. As a coach you want to know that. I really enjoyed it. He’s been in the league a long time and you have to respect that. He’s been a great goalie in the league. And he’s played very well for the Canucks.” And may yet again. Green insists goaltending — like all positions on the roster — will be a group decision. He has and will continue to make his thoughts known to management, but he’ll watch to see how the Miller scenario plays out.
“Obviously, Jim is the GM and he has to do what he thinks is best for the team,” Green says. “But Jim and I have had great communication. We’ve talked about everything and every position — what I think and what he thinks — and that’s important. I’m confident that we’re going to have two good goalies next year. It’s early now. I know there has been lots of talk about Ryan. Where it ends up, we’ll see. But every coach wants to have two good goalies.”
Green feels strongly he has one in Jacob Markstrom. Whether he’s a No. 1, though, remains to be seen.