Vancouver Canucks: No reason to call up Thatcher Demko

With the Vancouver Canucks dropping more and more in the standings, the idea of calling up Thatcher Demko for a few starts sounds intriguing. But at this point of the season, the Canucks should finish with their current tandem.

Not many things have changed with the Vancouver Canucks, who are poised to finish in the bottom-three of the NHL standings for the third consecutive year.

If there’s one thing for fans to be ecstatic about, it would have to be head coach Travis Green’s willingness to play some of the kids. Brock Boeser got top-six minutes, and it led to 29 goals and 55 points – and a possible Calder Trophy nomination.

Jake Virtanen and Nikolay Goldobin got enough ice time for us to realize that there is plenty of maturing and improvement required for both guys. And for next season, we shouldn’t be surprised if Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen and/or Olli Juolevi make the team — or at least get some form of playing time.

So with the Canucks down to their final 12 games of the season, some may entertain the idea of calling up prospect Thatcher Demko. And it’s not just because a smart fan on Twitter made this good observation:

Thing is, you don’t know if Demko makes the goaltending situation that much better. Obviously, Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson disappointed in 2017-18 — but few goalies in the world could win with this blue line.

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Demko is having a terrific showing for the AHL’s Utica Comets, posting a very good 20-10-4 record, with a .920 save percentage and 2.51 goals against average. In a way, he looks ready for the big leagues.

But there’s no reason for the Canucks to give him some games this late in the year.

You have to think general manager Jim Benning will look to move out Nilsson this offseason, opening the door for Demko to back up Markstrom.

And what happens if the Canucks call up Demko, he loses every start and gets lit up for three-plus goals a game?

That wouldn’t do much to help his confidence. The Canucks need him to finish off the campaign in Utica, then get him ready for training camp — before he hopefully makes his NHL debut next season.

It’s been a bad year for the Canucks, who thought newcomers Nilsson, Sam Gagner, Michael Del Zotto and Thomas Vanek could make this team more competitive. If Benning and president Trevor Linden learned their lesson, they’ll bring up a bunch of the prospects to play for this team next year.

Those prospects could include the aforementioned Demko, Pettersson, Juolevi and Dahlen, plus maybe Adam Gaudette. The Canucks can’t turn their eyes to the future just yet, they have a season to finish — then have to await the draft lottery results.

The Canucks have nothing to gain by calling up Demko this late in the season. Markstrom and Nilsson are both healthy, and have been playing better than what the records and stats show. None of them should take a seat for a guy who’s yet to play in the NHL.

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So Canucks fans, understand that the Canucks are better off going with Markstrom and Nilsson to finish the season. You will see Demko eventually, but it makes better sense for the team to hold off until next season — when more prospects will be on the roster.