Report: The Canucks’ puzzling pursuit of Miller

Up until recently the Vancouver Canucks management team of Trevor Linden and Jim Benning had been reticent to use “the R word”. You know the one: rebuild. Now that they’ve embraced it however, it’ll be interesting to see how they compile their roster moving forward.

One Canucks insider, longtime reporter with The Province newspaper Ed Willes, is questioning the team’s insistence on re-signing 36 year-old veteran Ryan Miller to share time with Jacob Markstrom for next season. Willes agues that, while Miller provides the team with stability in goal, he’ll be long gone by the time the team’s next generation turns the corner. And, with Markstrom seeking a larger share of the crease, does it really make sense to bring back Miller?

For all the accolades Miller received in 2016-17, the Canucks still finished 29th overall. How big of an impact could he have with such a young an inexperienced roster? Most Canucks fans these days are clamouring for Markstrom to receive more starts in 2017-18. The big Swede is now 27 years old and needs to step up and claim the starting position sooner rather than later. Does having Miller in the fold facilitate this or complicate this?