A giant cog thrown into the wheels of the Vancouver Canucks’ playoff run final season was the early damage to goaltender Thatcher Demko after Sport 1 of their first-round sequence towards the Nashville Predators. The damage didn’t drown their season as they had been capable of advance previous the primary spherical and the Canucks had been capable of get to Sport 7 of the second spherical with third-string goaltender Arturs Silovs within the crease. However had Demko been wholesome sufficient to play, the Canucks might have gone farther than they did and might need had an actual shot at profitable the Stanley Cup. With coaching camps beginning, Demko might lastly communicate to the media about his damage and the place he’s within the restoration course of. His present state might lead the Canucks to discover a momentary alternative.
Demko’s Present State
Demko advised reporters that he was “pissed off” throughout the damage course of, which is clearly comprehensible given the truth that he’s a extremely aggressive individual, however the largest head-scratching second of his media availability was how he described his damage. “It was such a singular damage,” Demko stated when talking to the Vancouver media at coaching camp in Penticton. “We didn’t actually have a whole lot of available analysis or case research or any data to have a concrete timeline [for a return.]”
Demko didn’t get into the specifics of what he injured, the one factor the general public can go off of is the unique stories from the playoffs the place it was stated that he sustained a “lower-body damage.” However the truth that each Demko and the Canucks didn’t have any data of what the damage was on the time it was sustained needs to be a trigger for concern. Demko even confirmed that he and the Canucks workers needed to get data from specialists throughout North America and even abroad to determine what the damage is and the way to get well from it.Â
However there are good indicators that he’s popping out of the damage. Demko has been participating in coaching camp and has been on the ice taking pictures from coaches, however he’s nonetheless not in a position to participate in any actions with the three fundamental teams. However the easy reality that he’s on the ice engaged on his regular actions and taking pictures from coaches is a good signal that he could also be able to play in some unspecified time in the future this season. “These final couple of weeks on the ice I’ve been feeling quite a bit higher,” Demko stated. “There’s positively some gentle on the finish of the tunnel for me now and I’ve full confidence that I might be again on the market. When that might be, nobody is aware of at the moment due to the lack of expertise folks have on his damage.”
What Ought to the Canucks Do In His Absence?
The Canucks have a couple of choices within the goaltending division in the intervening time, essentially the most notable can be their shock starter within the playoffs final season, Latvian Arturs Silovs. He was reliable and was not the explanation that the crew misplaced to the Edmonton Oilers within the second spherical. If something, he was an enormous purpose that they had been capable of make it to Sport 7. Each the Canucks group and their gamers are aware of Silovs and appear to have confidence in him as a beginning goalie within the NHL. The unlucky factor for Silovs is that he’s additionally coming off of an damage that he was rehabbing throughout the offseason and the group is unaware of whether or not he is ready to return to his playoff type. A very good signal for Silovs is that he has been participating in coaching camp with all of the starters and has been dealing with NHL-caliber pictures.
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Outdoors of Silovs, the Canucks’ goaltending choices are restricted. The membership has 24-year-old Nikita Tolopilo at their camp and he performed 35 video games with Abbotsford final season and recorded a .905 save proportion. For his first 12 months within the American Hockey League (AHL), that could be a good stat line however nothing that screams NHL starter and even NHL backup. The membership additionally signed Jiri Patera in free company. Final season he performed nearly all of his season within the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights the place he performed 25 video games and posted a .903 SV%, which once more isn’t terrible however doesn’t make a corporation assured sufficient to carry him into their NHL crew.
The Canucks even have 20-year-old prospect Ty Younger who might be enjoying his first 12 months {of professional} hockey this season and is nowhere close to prepared to begin NHL video games for Vancouver. They did carry Dylan Ferguson in on knowledgeable tryout (PTO), however the crew can also be very fascinated with Kevin Lankinen who has loads of NHL expertise as a backup and a few as a starter. The Finnish goalie had season in Nashville in 2023-24 as he performed in 24 video games and posted a .908 SV%. If the Canucks find yourself bringing in Lankinen, I feel that he might be an incredible possibility for the time that Demko is gone.
Demko’s damage hurts Vancouver, but it surely mustn’t damage their likelihood at profitable a Stanley Cup this season. The crew has different good choices on the goaltender place that may maintain the crew in playoff rivalry in the event that they play as much as their potential. Then as soon as Demko returns, the Canucks ought to have an incredible tandem to make use of throughout the season and within the playoffs when wanted.
