When it comes to Thatcher Demko, his 2023-24 campaign with the Vancouver Canucks truly was a special one. He set a whole host of single season bests between the pipes, as he was deservedly named a Vezina Trophy finalist for the first time. and finished second behind Connor Hellebuyck.
At the same time however, there's still a sense of what might have been when it comes to Demko? As most Canucks fans are painfully aware, he suffered a knee injury in early March which resulted in him missing 14 games.
The 28-year-old would subsequently have to contend with another knee issue in the Canucks' first game of the playoffs, which ended his season. As a result, you have to wonder how things would have played out versus the Edmonton Oilers in the second round, if their number one goalie had been available?
NHL Network's top 10 goalies
On the subject of wondering, we are trying to understand the NHL Network's thought process for a list they released on Friday, naming the top 10 goalies in the league right now. As per NHL.com, the rankings are as follows:
Rank | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
10) | Linus Ullmark | Ottawa Senators |
9) | Juuse Saros | Nashville Predators |
8) | Jake Oettinger | Dallas Stars |
7) | Sergei Bobrovsky | Florida Panthers |
6) | Thatcher Demko | Vancouver Canucks |
5) | Ilya Sorokin | New York Islanders |
4) | Jeremy Swayman | Boston Bruins |
3) | Andrei Vasilevskiy | Tampa Bay Lightning |
2) | Connor Hellebuyck | Winnipeg Jets |
1) | Igor Shesterkin | New York Rangers |
Now yes, if you're a Canucks fan, it's great that Demko is on the list at all, albeit much deserved. However, is the NHL Network really trying to tell us he's only the sixth-best goalie in the league? (Yes they are, but you get the point.)
The case for moving Demko up from 6th place
It is our humble opinion that the 2014 second round draft pick deserves to be ranked higher, for a number of reasons. For a start, his 35 wins are tied fifth-best in the top 10, but keep in mind he's only ranked eighth with 51 starts, due to his aforementioned knee complications.
Demko's .918 save percentage is second-best on the list of 10 goalies, while his 2.45 Goals Against Average is ranked third. He also ranks tied second-best with five shutouts, and again, consider that he missed a fair amount of games through injury.
The two-time NHL All-Star ranks fifth with his 33 quality starts. However, he jumps up to third in the rankings with his .647 quality start percentage.
Finally, we'd even throw in Demko's age, which has him fourth-youngest among the top 10. He's going to be around for a while yet, as long as he can overcome the ongoing concerns about his durability.
Ultimately, we fully appreciate that aside from the NHL Network's top 10 being the combined opinion of their producers and analysts, one of the aims in general with lists, is to elicit a reaction. Regardless, it doesn't change the reality they have ranked Demko too low, with him worthy of being moved up to fourth or third place.
N.B. All statistics courtesy of hockey-reference.com