Vancouver Canucks: A look at the goaltending depth chart
The Vancouver Canucks found themselves in a bind this year when it came to goaltending, here’s how their goaltending depth looked this year, and how it will look heading into next year.
We all know what happened with Michael DiPietro being forced to make his debut at 19 years old, I talked about it in yesterday’s article, and have seen it continue to pop up. The Vancouver Canucks surely want to avoid a similar situation in the future, so I thought it be fitting to take a look at how the Canucks’ goaltending depth is looking heading into next season.
Jacob Markstrom
What can you say about Jacob Markstrom? After being acquired in exchange for Roberto Luongo back in 2014, Markstrom’s career with the Canucks has been up and down — that was, until this year, where Markstrom proved that he is ready to be a starter in the NHL.
Markstrom was forced to backup Ryan Miller, but last year, got his chance to be the team’s go-to goaltender. He had some healthy competition in the form of Anders Nilsson, but ultimately, was more trusted by head coach Travis Green, who coached Markstrom for a season when the two were members of the Utica Comets.
A reunion with former goalie coach Ian Clark can be attributed to Markstrom’s resurgence. Clark was with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and worked closely with Sergei Bobrovsky, before returning to the Canucks this season. Markstrom showed that he is ready to be the goalie for the Canucks when they turn the corner and become contenders. He is likely in line to receive an extension very soon with just one year remaining on his contract.
Thatcher Demko
“The goalie of the future” as he was known by Canucks fans since the day he was drafted early in the second round, Thatcher Demko has made great progress. He had a bit of a tough go this year, however. After arriving to be the backup for the Canucks in lieu of the Nilsson trade, Demko played just one game before suffering an injury.
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The injury resulted in Demko missing the majority of a busy month of February. After returning, he struggled to catch his stride right away. He allowed five goals on 24 shots in that game — and followed it up with another loss, this time at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers where he allowed three goals on 34 shots.
He improved with each start he made and was beginning to look like he had the ability to steal games for his team, just as Markstrom showed he is capable of doing.
It’s important that we remember that Demko is just 23 years of age, and that goalies take longer to develop. Just look at Markstrom, who, despite being a top goaltending prospect in his younger years, is just now starting to live up to his potential, at 29 years old.
Michael DiPietro
I wrote an article just yesterday about the recent success Michael DiPietro is having in the OHL playoffs with the Ottawa 67’s. DiPietro is hands down the best goaltender in the OHL, and got a taste of NHL action that I’m sure the Canucks would have rather avoided giving him in retrospect.
DiPietro is a solid goaltending prospect who can hopefully step in with the Utica Comets in the near future and continue his development. At just 19 years old, it will likely be a while before we see DiPietro in a Canucks’ uniform again.
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Jake Kielly
This was one of a few great college free agent signings by the Canucks late this season. Along with Brogan Rafferty and Josh Teves is goaltender Jake Kielly. Kielly had just wrapped up his third season with Clarkson University before signing with the Canucks. In his last two seasons with Clarkson, Kielly posted a .929 save percentage and played in 39 games each season.
The Minnesota native was nominated for the Hobey Baker Award this year, awarded to the NCAA’s top player. He was nominated for the award last year, as well. On top of that, he was also up for the Mike Richter award, awarded to the best Division 1 goaltender in the NCAA.
Kielly reported to the Canucks and was given some practice time with the team and goaltending coach Ian Clark. He improves the Canucks depth, and gives them another solid young goaltender in their system. Kielly will most likely be assigned to the Utica Comets out of training camp.
Richard Bachman
Signed in the 2015-16 season, journeyman goaltender Richard Bachman has spent the majority of his time with the Canucks in the minors with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. Not to be confused with Stephen King’s nom de plume, Bachman has played just seven games for the Canucks.
He appeared in one game for the Canucks this season, and ended up on highlight reels all over the country for the wrong reason. This turnover against the Minnesota Wild landed Bachman on misplays highlight packages for months.
Bachman has one year left on his deal, and will likely spend almost the entirety of next year with the Comets.
Marek Mazanec
Marek Mazanec was acquired from the New York Rangers and was essentially a band-aid for the terrible wound that was the Canucks goaltending situation of February. It was the reason we saw DiPietro get thrown to the Sharks, and in hopes of avoiding that situation again, general manager Jim Benning went out and improved his team’s goaltending depth with the acquisition of Mazanec.
Mazanec will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, and since the team recently acquired a new young goaltender in Kielly, Mazanec’s time with the Canucks organization may already have come to an end.
Michael Leighton
Much like Mazanec, Michael Leighton was signed to a pro-tryout contract just to add depth to the Canucks goaltending for this season. He spent his time with the Comets this season, appearing in 19 games. He had a save percentage of .901 and went 8-10-0.
Leighton will be 38 in less than a month, and as a result, his career may be coming to a close. Leighton was drafted in the sixth round of the 1999 draft — a year before the final goalie on this list was even born.
Matthew Thiessen
The reason I have decided to leave Matthew Thiessen to the end of this list is because he is the only goaltender in the Canucks organization who has yet to sign a contract with the team. Drafted in the seventh round of the 2018 draft, Thiessen is the only goaltender on the Canucks’ depth chart born in 2000.
He was drafted out of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, after posting a .923 save percentage with the Steinbach Pistons in the 2017-18 season. In his draft year, he had a record of 28-3-1 and a goals against average of 2.06.
This season, Thiessen played in the United States Hockey League with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, and saw a dip in his play. This season, Thiessen owned a .889 save percentage and a 3.01 goals against average. Along with those numbers, he also had an overall record of 18-22-4. Only time will tell if Thiessen turns out to be another late-round steal for Benning’s group at the draft.
The Canucks actually have relatively good depth at goaltending now, and the signing of Kielly really sets them up nicely for the future. I am curious to hear what you all think, as I’ve seen people on Twitter suggesting trading Demko or Markstrom to acquire a useful piece up front or a higher draft pick.
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What do you think? Should the Canucks be looking at moving a goaltender out? I will write my thoughts on the matter in an upcoming article, but for now, I want to hear from you! Let me know in the comments section below what you think of the idea of the Canucks trading a goaltender!