It’s Thatcher Demko time on the west coast! Here are three questions facing the Vancouver Canucks young goaltender ahead of the 2021 NHL season.
Rumour has it that Thatcher Demko‘s 2020 NHL Playoffs performance still keeps the Vegas Golden Knights up at night.
Honestly, you could probably go as far as to say that his three-game performance in Round 2 was the best three-game span by any Vancouver Canucks player in the 50-year history of the franchise. At least when the team was facing elimination, anyway. Simply, jaw-dropping stuff, Demko was remarkable.
There is no proof that those games altered the course of Jacob Markstrom‘s destination via free agency (management was really high on Markstrom), but he was that darn good.
The way he was able to stop every puck he faced during those games with such confidence, you didn’t want Markstrom to return from injury. No matter what Vegas threw his way, he looked invincible and he gave the Canucks the best shot at winning.
Demko played well enough that instead of signing Markstrom as the starter long term, the Canucks found a two-year option in Braden Holtby. A clear message that they believe in their “goaltender of the future”.
But now that he’s going to be taking on more responsibility in Vancouver, let’s take a look at three big questions that he’ll be facing during the 2021 NHL season.
Will Demko be the starter on opening night?
There’s a lot of talk out there right now about who will claim the crease to begin the 2021 campaign. Some people believe Demko has won the starting role already, while others feel Holtby’s resume makes him the guy to beat in Vancouver by default.
As much as I’d like to agree that Demko should be the Canucks first option between the pipes, he’s still a goalie who has very little NHL experience. Sure, he played like an absolute rockstar in the playoffs, but who’s to say he can handle a full season?
Holtby has more than 10-years of competitive experience under his belt. Through his entire time in Washington as a member of the Capitals, they were a competitive playoff team each and every year. He’s reliable, and unless he plays like trash in training camp, I just don’t see Travis Green starting a million dollar goalie over someone they just signed for $8.6 million.
That’s not to say that Demko won’t be ready for the role whenever the season begins, it just means he’s still going to have to work really hard to get what he wants. He still needs to earn the position whole-heartedly.
Can Demko and Holtby share the crease?
As funny as a question as that is, I’m serious. With Markstrom gone and Demko riding high after the playoffs, he’s likely feeling the net should be his. On the other hand, Holtby just inked a two-year deal to fly across North America, and in his mind, fill a hole left by a top-five NHL goalie.
Demko is coming off a successful year and he’ll be looking to continue rolling smoothly. At the age of 24, he’s entering the prime years of his young career as an NHL goaltender.
Holtby didn’t have the best season in Washington as he was surpassed by their younger backup. He played just 48 games (something he hasn’t done since 2013-14) and he’s hoping that the Canucks goaltending coach, Ian Clark can help him re-elevate his game.
Now, I know these guys are both professionals, but they could be coming into camp with different expectations of each other. There’s always a healthy competition between goalies in hockey, it’ll be interesting to see them battle it out.
Can Demko put up better numbers than Markstrom?
It might seem crazy to ask this question given the fact that Markstrom is the Canucks back-to-back Most Valuable Player, but if you look closer at their statistics, the two goaltenders aren’t that far off of one another.
Through 37 regular-season games, Demko holds a save percentage of 0.906. Markstrom’s career average for save percentage is 0.911, but he didn’t become a goalie above 0.900 until his 2014-15 campaign with the Canucks.
Markstrom will be playing with a more defensively sound team in my opinion (could be debated), but the Canucks were the best Canadian team last season. If the rumoured all-Canadian division comes to fruition, it could be interesting to see what happens.
Of course, in that case, the games between the Canucks and Flames would mean that much more. Either way, they’re going to be very entertaining. Each goaltender is going to want to outshine the other, and that makes for great competition.
What are your thoughts Canucks Nation? What other questions face Demko next year?