[Signing] Canucks re-sign Thatcher Demko

[mpass1]

In a world where Price, Vasilevsky & Bobrovsky are making double that money. 5 million is a very sound deal!

[kloubek]

45 minutes ago, Kenny Blankenship said:

I agree that there’s a bit of risk involved, especially considering he’s a goalie. But I feel like this is a tiny gamble that could have a potentially huge payout. Time will tell I suppose. All Demmer has done for the last year is improve so I’m hopeful. 

I think it's accepted that goalies are a... "different" group, who may have higher than average instances of doing great for a bit, then falling off a cliff. I'm not saying we will experience that with Demko, but besides being lights out last playoffs as well as excellent for the second portion of the season so far, his stats have otherwise been quite average. He's had his ups and downs, so the sample size is really still reasonably smaller than I would prefer for a long term, mid-priced contract. I also haven't forgotten his propensity to getting concussions.

 

With that said, I don't have all the information the Canucks do. I don't have Ian Clark, who I'm sure had something to say in his expert opinion. I don't have a lot of things, so I leave it in their hands to make a proper, educated decision. And they have.

 

I imagine this has a far better chance of looking like a great signing in 3 years than it might a poor one.

[Elias Pettersson]

Why is Benning being allowed to sign players to multi-million dollar contracts if he's about to be fired?  

 

Edited March 31, 2021 by Elias Pettersson

[alt kilgore]

3 minutes ago, Silky mitts said:

Already is?

Great deal, and I'd say Demko already is our #1 too.

 

I think the organization started the season with Holtby regarded as their #1, and Demko had to earn his starts. I recall even Green referring Holtby that way before the first game where Holtby started.  It was understandable, but perhaps a bit overcautious. Almost like they believed that Thatcher would take another year, maybe two, to get to where he is now.  Otherwise why spend so much on Holtby?  I hope they can move him before the TDL.  Get DePietro in there, or pick up a cheap deal somewhere else for a backup.

[Dazzle]

21 minutes ago, Provost said:

I don't think anyone suggested he was a flake.  The position has such small margins of error that guys lose their technique and fall off all the time... even the most highly touted players.  There are a lot of guys with a couple of amazing years and then their play took a massive tumble, a lot more than names like Luongo who had a decade or more of high end play.  Do you remember superstars like Jim Carey, Rick DiPietro. Leighton, Scrivens, Huet, Jose Theodore, Hammond, etc, etc.  Heck Markstrom isn't a flake and was coming off a couple of Vezina calibre seasons bailing our team out.  He doesn't look too good at the moment.

There is no long term goalie signing that isn't a significant risk... it is the nature of the position.  

This is one of the most reasonable sounding posts from you, if not the most. Good points. Other goalies like Jonathan Quick and Jonathan Bernier were thought to be goalies of the future, and then they struggled mightily. Cam Ward is another that comes to mind.

 

It just comes to show people how difficult the position really is. The criticism of goalies of our past didn't help their mental game.

[Alienhuggyflow]

5 minutes ago, Provost said:

It will be REALLY interesting to see how the cap gets worked out this summer.  We now have $61 million committed to 12 players, with our two biggest stars needing extensions.

That means unless money moves out, we need to keep the combined Petterson/Hughes contracts around $12 million, leaving an average of $1 million per remaining 8 players to get to just a 22 man roster.

Something will have to give.... goodbye Pearson for one.  Unless expansion rescues us by taking on Myers, or we use assets to trade money, it is a bad year next year.

 

And who replaces Myers at his level of play with such a discount it makes sense to actually expose him? RHD is our biggest weakness and the UFA market is weak. 

If they truly need cap, buyout Holtby saves 4 million or pay the price Seattle has set to unload someone.

Truth is we have no idea what could happen in the Summer.

All we heard last off-season was how strapped we were, yet we added Nate, Holtby etc and didn't have to lose any picks or prospects.

[Gurn]

39 minutes ago, Provost said:

I

 

It also helps put a cap on Petterson and Hughes contracts since there is less money to go around now (and with more than $9 million set aside for the goalie position next year).  Savvy to do it that way.

I now fully expect Holtby to be traded or bought out once expansion is done.

Sign E.P and Hughes,  then trade or buy out Holtby. Keeps the money looking tight, till Holby's departure gives wiggle room.

12 minutes ago, Provost said:

It will be REALLY interesting to see how the cap gets worked out this summer.  We now have $61 million committed to 12 players, with our two biggest stars needing extensions.

That means unless money moves out, we need to keep the combined Petterson/Hughes contracts around $12 million, leaving an average of $1 million per remaining 8 players to get to just a 22 man roster.

Something will have to give.... goodbye Pearson for one.  Unless expansion rescues us by taking on Myers, or we use assets to trade money, it is a bad year next year.

 

Maybe   Loui Ericksson retires?  Please hockey gods, hear me.

[Twilight Sparkle]

and somewhere pierre dorion is probably crying rn

[Provost]

5 minutes ago, Alienhuggyflow said:

And who replaces Myers at his level of play with such a discount it makes sense to actually expose him? RHD is our biggest weakness and the UFA market is weak. 

If they truly need cap, buyout Holtby saves 4 million or pay the price Seattle has set to unload someone.

Truth is we have no idea what could happen in the Summer.

All we heard last off-season was how strapped we were, yet we added Nate, Holtby etc and didn't have to lose any picks or prospects.

We currently have to expose Myers or Schmidt I believe.... there are minimum requirements and they are who fits.
 

It is not a matter of who would be better for that money... it is literally how much cap space we have.

[Provost]

3 minutes ago, gurn said:

Sign E.P and Hughes,  then trade or buy out Holtby. Keeps the money looking tight, till Holby's departure gives wiggle room.

Maybe   Loui Ericksson retires?  Please hockey gods, hear me.

Yes... I really don’t want to see us having to play crazy hardball with Hughes by leveraging his limited 10.2 (c) status for a really cheap 1 year deal just so we can fit the roster under the cap.  That could cost us down the road.

[Tom Sestito]

1 hour ago, Tom Sestito said:

There’s no science with goalies - it’s so hard to predict. They didn’t really have a good bridge option with Thatcher’s free agency coming up in two years so this makes sense. At this price, I think the long term gamble on Thatcher is a good one as it’s pretty in line with what goalies of his experience get. 
 

They need some consistency with Clark though. Bobrovsky and Markstrom fell off without him. If they retain Clark, the value of this Demko contract increases substantially because there’s a big risky variable being mitigated. 

 

My personal guess a few weeks back was 5MMx6Y... so this is in line with that.

 

17 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

You forgot the fact that Demko would have been a UFA in 2 years and could have just signed a short term deal to bet on himself so he could really cash in in a couple of years as a UFA.  So yes Benning should take credit for getting him signed long term and buying 3 UFA years.  But I guess the Benning haters have to bash something...

I didn’t forget it - I actually mentioned it directly.

 

Try again.

[alt kilgore]

24 minutes ago, Dazzle said:

But if that were the case, why did Demko re-sign with the Canucks? Why didn't he go somewhere else and demand a trade? Demko likes Vancouver for obvious reasons, with a big reason on stability here. He likes his teammates and the city.
 

Brackett no doubt deserves credit, but people are so disillusioned with Benning that they're taking away all his credit and splashing it over Brackett, for the sake of rationalizing their hate on the former.  That's hilariously bad.

No reason to take away Benning's credit where its due.  He agreed with Judd and others in that department about picking Demko.  And this re-signing is exactly the right move. In fact I was hoping Demko would be ahead of any signings for Hughes or Pettersson. The goaltending position is so crucial for any team's success. And this is a reasonable contract over 5 years.  Fantastic.

 

But most of the work scouting Thatcher was by the amateur scouting department, including Brackett.  No GM has time to travel all over NA, and the world, to watch junior hockey games, no matter how much they want to have their fingers in all the pots. The player assessment a GM should have more say in is pro-scouting, to make NHL player hockey deals, including FA acquisitions. I won't get into Jims history there. I applaud Jim for recognizing what he has now in the fold and has his priorities straight about shoring up the goaltending first and foremost.

 

Not sure what you are saying in your first paragraph though. Why wouldn't he re-sign here? He knows the team and has a good goaltending coach. I don't see what you are trying to imply there.

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Edited March 31, 2021 by kilgore

[Patel Bure]

I think it’s an April Fool’s joke.

[Rush17]

Perfect situation for a growing team. Just wait until the bad contracts are off the books. Him knocking off 3m of what he likely will be north in 3 years is massive. Lets hope Petey and Hughes give us reasonable deals too. Maybe 8m a piece?

[GB5]

Awesome...goaltending is locked up long term.

 

gotta like it.

[Squamfan]

 

[Nuxfanabroad]

MAHHHN!!!! What sweet news to wake up too. Puttin' a scoop of cocaine into my mornin' brew!

[Maniwaki Canuck]

Solid, fair deal, comparable to Horvat's back in the day.  Love the term, which gets us well into our contention window with a top goalie signed at a modest cap hit.  Just gotta lock up Petey and Hughes, then somehow squeak by next year until our cap situation opens up.  Can't see how we re-sign Edler or Pearson, but what would I know about what might be going on behind the scenes.

[-DLC-]

followed by...

 

[Pears]

Tremendous value.