Elite young goaltender may want a fresh start in a new NHL city
No one's entirely sure what's going on with the Vancouver Canucks but it seems like any player outside of Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes can be had for the right price. The Canucks have one of the better offences in the league but sit near the basement of the NHL with an abysmal backend and questionable goaltending depth. With the Bruce Boudreau drama coming to a close and now Bo Horvat finally being traded, the Canucks will surely have several players up for the trade deadline.
One name to keep an eye on is goaltender Thatcher Demko because many people close to the situation believe that he no longer wants to be in Vancouver and could want out either at the deadline or in the off-season. Demko has been sidelined since the 1st of December with a lower body injury and they were hoping that would have made a return somewhere in January but that never came to pass.
After 2 strong campaigns in 2020-21 and 2021-22, Demko struggled right off the hop this season and went down with a 3-10-2 record, a 3.93 G.A.A. and a pedestrian .883 SV%. This coming off the heels of a 2021-22 season where he finished 33-22-7 with a 915 SV% and a 2.72 G.A.A. He was tabbed as one of the better young goaltenders in the NHL, he is under contract under 2026-27 with a very doable cap-hit of 5 million, and with the Canucks being rudderless and without a plan, their lone saviour in goal might want out.
The Canucks have fumbled the bag over the last few years with their salary cap management. Rather than bite the final years of Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel, the Canucks decided to deal them alongside draft compensation for the lengthy contract of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland. Then they signed J.T. Miller to an 7 year extension with an 8 million cap hit rather than trading him at the deadline for a haul last season, they let Bo Horvat go because they prioritized Andrei Kuzmenko, and have one of the worst defences in hockey but have 3 players making over 6 million.
If Demko were made available, either by his agent or the Canucks themselves, there would definitely be a market for the 27 year old. He has shown he can backstop his team on a playoff run (2019 bubble), he can play the lion's share of games (64 last year), and he can put up great numbers on a bad team (back to back .915 SV% seasons). He is also under contract for another 3 seasons which only adds to his value.
Losing Demko would be a massive loss for the Canucks who don't necessarily have an option to replace him on the roster or in the pipeline at the moment.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 31 | 482 ANSWERS Elite young goaltender may want a fresh start in a new NHL city If Demko is actually available, how hard should the Leafs push to acquire him? | ||
| Empty the bank - I'm fine with an overpay | 88 | 18.3 % |
| Hard pass - he's damaged goods | 102 | 21.2 % |
| Only do the deal if the price is right | 292 | 60.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
