Canuck Goaltending: What gives and where to from here?

[Coconuts]

53 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Yup.  Definitely worries about Demko’s health. But when healthy, he’s tops.  

Mmm, I like Demko and I'm rooting for him but we'll see. How he looks over the remainder of the season will give us a better indication of where we're at with our goaltending. 

[Nuxfanabroad]

Martin waived? Appears your answer is forthcoming.

[DSVII]

On 2/8/2023 at 6:28 AM, ItalianCanuck1 said:

- What do we have in Artur Silovs? 

- Does Demko's prime fit with our rebuilding / retooling timeline?

 

IF the front-office and Ian Clark are high on Silovs and they think we're 4 years away to contend, then a trade makes perfectly sense.

Silovs will be 24 when this team when the new core will be in his prime.

Ian Clark is the real asset the org needs to lock down IMO.

 

Demko there's no point playing rest of year, rest him up and then re-evaluate next year where this team is. 

[Dr. Crossbar]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:11 PM, JamesB said:

The current goaltending situation has surprised pretty much everyone, At the start of the season who thought that after 50 games.

 

a. The #1 goalie would be Collin Delia

b. The Canucks would have the lowest save percentage in the NHL.

c. There would be credible rumours of trade talks regarding Demko.

 

So what is going on? Here are some thoughts and I would be very interested in other comments.

 

1. Demko injuries.

At the end of last season Demko stopped playing because of injury, indicating that the injury had occurred earlier but he kept playing until playoff hopes were pretty much gone. He said he might or might not get surgery. We heard nothing more until training camp when we learned that did have surgery in the summer and that he was "ready to play".

 

Demko got off to a terrible start. Much of the discussion on CDC put the blame on the defence, which gave up too many high quality chances. But "Evolving Hockey" makes some attempt to correct for shot quality. In their database Demko ranks 75th out of 79 goalies who have played at least 2 games.  (His save percentage is also among the worst in the  league.)

 

It is hard to believe a goalie can decline so quickly unless injury is playing a role.

 

Then he got injured again at the beginning of December and was supposed to be out 6 weeks. It is now 11 weeks and counting and he is still not back.

 

The team has said very little about his injuries. It is all a mystery.

 

2. Other goalies. Spencer Martin did a good job as a backup last year. This year, after being put in the starter role, he struggled. His numbers are even worse than Demko's as he ranks 2nd to last in the Evolving hockey list of 79 goalies.  Delia has been a lot better and ranks 51 on the Evolving Hockey list and, unlike Demko and Martin, is at least significantly above "replacement level".

 

3. Trade Rumours. I don't get the trade rumours regarding Demko.  First, no one would trade for Demko until he shows he his healthy, so any trade must be a ways off. Second, it is not like the Canucks have anyone ready to take over. Neither Martin nor Delia is good enough to be the starter on a good team. Silovs has made progress in Abby but, even if things go well, is at least two years away.

 

4.There has been speculation that the Canucks might sign Tristan Jarry. He is playing well for Pittsburgh and is a UFA after this year. He is from the the Vancouver area and it is believed he would like to come back.  But this has to be a longshot.

 

Bottom line: The Canucks have had excellent goaltending for many years before this year. This year the team has been unlucky on the goaltending front. One way or another I would expect regression to the mean next year and that alone would improve team performance a lot  In fact, if Demko comes back and is healthy the Canucks might to do well enough this year to weaken their draft position. That might be one reason the Canucks are holding him out. It certainly makes no sense to put him at risk.

 

Thanks for reading.

Another great, thought provoking post.

 

It's amazing how our goaltending looks just four months after this post. I actually went through your post line by line and was shocked to not see Silovs mentioned. Goes to show how quickly things can change from seemingly doom/gloom to the exact opposite. 

 

It's looking like we're absolutely set in net for several years of this current window. We should all be happy about this.

 

Current contenders and top teams have been getting it done with two stellar goalies ... which we'll soon have in the Demko/Silovs tandem..

[JamesB]

2 hours ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

Another great, thought provoking post.

 

It's amazing how our goaltending looks just four months after this post. I actually went through your post line by line and was shocked to not see Silovs mentioned. Goes to show how quickly things can change from seemingly doom/gloom to the exact opposite. 

 

It's looking like we're absolutely set in net for several years of this current window. We should all be happy about this.

 

Current contenders and top teams have been getting it done with two stellar goalies ... which we'll soon have in the Demko/Silovs tandem..

You are right, I am sorry I did not mention Silovs in my OP. He made a lot of progress during the year and was obviously fantastic at the IIHF World Championships where he was the tournament MVP an looked great.

 

Looking forward to him have a very good year in Abby next and being available if Demko gets injured.