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Thatcher Demko | #35 | G

Drouin

By Drouin
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WonderTwinPowers Canucks Prospect

WonderTwinPowers

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3 hours ago, WHL rocks said:

 

Ok so lets say he picks the 2nd option. He goes back to NCAA for all the right reasons, not to avoid signing with the Canucks but to finish his degree and to win the NCAA championship. 

 

Then what brings him back to the Canucks? that's my question. 

 

Let's move forward 1 year. Demko just won the Frozen Four and he's UFA. Thirty NHL teams lineup up at his door. Which one does he chose? You say the Canucks, I say that's nothing more than wishful thinking. There would be many teams that come before the Canucks. IF anything the Canucks would be bottom 1/3 on his list. 

 

Why do people believe he would sign with the Canucks as UFA? What motivation would he have to go to a foreign country and sign on a team that has no chance to compete for a championship for 7 plus years. 

 

IF winning is so important to him that he wants to go back to school to win NCAA then why would he got to a team that has no chance to win the Stanley Cup for a very long time? Pick one, either he wants to win or he doesn't. You can't say he wants to win the NCAA but lose in the NHL. 

Get paid sooner rather than later, potentially burn a year off his contract, maintain established relationships with friends and managment, be on the west coast close to home, live in one of the top voted best places in the world to live. There's tons of reasons honestly, you just feel the need to get your panties in a bunch over nothing.

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Toews Canucks Franchise Player

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2 hours ago, elvis15 said:

Sorry should have explicitly stated the part about how if he goes back to school for one more year then we might as well give up on him since it's a foregone conclusion that he'll go to UFA from there. Again, glad you know that with such certainty.

 

I think l we can both agree my wait and see approach is not going to mesh with your he's definitely doing this if this happens approach.

This is a ridiculous post. WHL Rocks hasn't claimed to have any supernatural powers. He only expressed the opinion that if Demko is to pass on a contract then the option of UFA seems more appealing than signing with the Canucks next year. It's an opinion I share. 

 

The greatest advantage the Canucks have is the ability to give him pro experience and possibly burn a year of his ELC. If he passes on that then I would start preparing to lose him as a free agent as I am much less confident that this team can get his signature when the option of waiting it out for a few months and having a pick of destinations is on the table.

 

40 minutes ago, WonderTwinPowers said:

Get paid sooner rather than later, potentially burn a year off his contract, maintain established relationships with friends and managment, be on the west coast close to home, live in one of the top voted best places in the world to live. There's tons of reasons honestly, you just feel the need to get your panties in a bunch over nothing.

The discussion is in regards to if he passes on a contract to return to college. 

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WonderTwinPowers Canucks Prospect

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1 hour ago, Toews said:

The discussion is in regards to if he passes on a contract to return to college. 

No it really wasn't. Elvis pointed out the ridiculousness in fans not even just WHL, saying IF he goes back then it's and i quote "clear and obvious that he's going UFA." whether its an opinion or not its being written out looking like an absolute which it isn't. Even in the post i quoted he says what motivation would he have to sign in Vancouver, that being all of but not limited to the things I listed. None of which are off the table if he signs next year. Admittedly WHL started to say things like "based on my judgment" and "in my opinion" on his later posts after him and Elvis started, but that wasn't the case earlier. 

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hatedkid666 Canucks First-Line

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Multiple sources indicating tonight that Thatcher Demko will sign with Vancouver.

 

 

Demko signing will obviously be a tough loss. He's arguably the best goalie in BC history. That being said, Joe Woll is the real deal.

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numb3r 16 Canucks Regular

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This calmed me down a bit

 

http://www.vancourier.com/pass-it-to-bulis/should-canucks-fans-be-worried-about-thatcher-demko-1.2234054

 

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Thatcher Demko has proven pretty much everything he possibly can in the NCAA: he put up stunning statistics, broke Cory Schneider’s single season shutout record for Boston College, was a finalist for the Hobey Baker award, and won the Mike Richter award as the best goaltender in college hockey.

The only thing he didn’t accomplish was winning the NCAA Championship, getting knocked out in the semifinal of the Frozen Four by Quinnipiac. That unfinished business, along with the idea of finishing his education, may be why he’s seemed so uncertain about signing with the Canucks this offseason.

That uncertainty has Canucks fans understandably nervous. If Demko chooses to return to Boston College, then he could become an unrestricted free agent just a few short months after his season ends next year.

Heck, just look at the comments to our post about Thatcher Demko playing in the World Championships: it’s largely comments fretting over whether Demko should even be considered a Canucks prospect.

This year’s Hobey Baker winner, Jimmy Vesey, has informed the Nashville Predators, who drafted him in the 3rd round in 2012, that he won’t be signing with them. He’s not the only one; there have been others, with Canucks fans well aware of Justin Schultz, who chose to sign with the Edmonton Oilers rather than the Anaheim Ducks

To put it simply, the Canucks have until August 15th after Demko graduates to sign him. Otherwise, he goes to free agency.

Should we be worried about this actually happening? Is it likely that Demko doesn’t sign with the Canucks?

Let’s start with the idea of Demko heading back to make another run at the NCAA Championship. The issue is that the Eagles will be missing several key players from this past season’s team.

Defenceman Steve Santini and forwards Alex Tuch, Adam Gilmour, and Miles Wood have all signed with the teams that drafted them. They might be joined by Colin White and Ian McCoshen. Add in four graduating seniors, including captain Teddy Doherty, and half the team will be gone.

Boston College will be returning their leading scorer and their top scoring defenceman and Demko is good enough that he could carry the team on his back, but it doesn’t seem like the Eagles will be a favourite for the Frozen Four next year.

But even if Demko does return to Boston College for one more year, that doesn’t mean he’s heading to free agency.

The Canucks hold several advantages to signing Demko. The first is that they alone can sign Demko before the end of the NHL season next year. As long as Demko’s season ends in time, the Canucks can ink him to a deal and play him in a game or two, getting Demko a year closer to his next contract. That can mean a difference of millions of dollars, so it’s a significant carrot to dangle, and since there are set limits to entry-level contracts, it gives the Canucks the financial advantage.

Another advantage is that the Canucks have a clear path to Demko becoming a number one goaltender. There are limited job opportunities in the NHL for a goaltender, even one as highly regarded as Demko.

With Ryan Miller’s contract up at the end of next season, it seems likely that Demko could be in the NHL as a backup to Jacob Markstrom by 2017-18. From there, Demko just has to out-battle Markstrom for the starter’s role over the next few seasons. Ideally, Demko would sign now and get a full season in the AHL before hitting the big leagues, but it’s conceivable that he could make the jump directly.

In any case, there are very few obstacles in Demko’s path. The Canucks don’t have anyone else. With Joe Cannata a UFA and, at 26, hardly even a prospect any more, the Canucks don’t have any goaltenders other than Demko in the system.

So, barring the signing of another free agent goaltender (such as, say, Quinnipiac goaltender Michael Garteig who knocked Demko out of the Frozen Four this year and attended Canucks development camp in 2014) or Benning grabbing another goaltender in this year’s draft, Demko will stand alone in the Canucks prospect pool.

So why would he sign with another team, who would just have more goaltenders with whom to compete?

Pretty much every other team in the NHL has a deeper prospect pool in net than the Canucks. According to Hockey’s Future, the Florida Panthers have the most goaltending prospects, with a whopping seven. The Stars, Oilers, Sharks, Islanders, and Sabres each have six.

The only team other than the Canucks that has just one goaltending prospect is the Ducks, but they have the 22-year-old John Gibson signed through 2019 and will likely re-sign 26-year-old RFA Frederik Andersen to a long-term deal.

The Blackhawks and Kings have just two goaltending prospects, but they have Corey Crawford and Jonathan Quick signed through 2020 and 2023, respectively.

That’s the issue for Demko: most teams either have a solid number one or tandem in net or have blue chip goaltending prospects on the rise. There really isn’t a better situation for Demko than in Vancouver.

For example, the one team that you might think has a clearer path to a number one job than the Canucks: the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Leafs traded away their best goaltender, James Reimer, keeping Jonathan Bernier, who was awful this past season. There’s a job opening for sure, but there’s also some serious competition for it.

The Leafs already had two young goaltending prospects—Garrett Sparks and Antoine Bibeau—and signed Kasimir Kaskisuo out of the NCAA to further crowd the crease. Sparks may have posted an ugly .893 save percentage in 17 games in the NHL, but he had a strong AHL season, while Bibeau posted a .909 save percentage in the AHL, but improved immensely at the end of the season.

That’s three goaltenders vying for the starting job, not to mention Bernier, who could have a bounceback season. Why would Demko want to forego a clear succession plan in Vancouver for the uncertainty of Toronto or some other team?

The Canucks also hold one other trump card: Demko’s dad.

The patriarch of the Demko clan is a fan of Vancouver after spending some time at UBC. He even confided in our own Harrison Mooney before his son got drafted that he was hoping the Canucks would pick him.

If the elder Demko holds any sway over the younger, Thatcher won’t be signing anywhere other than Vancouver.

- See more at: http://www.vancourier.com/pass-it-to-bulis/should-canucks-fans-be-worried-about-thatcher-demko-1.2234054#.dpuf

 

 

 

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