What a difference a year can make.

Heck, what a difference a week can make.

At around this time last season, Thatcher Demko was solidifying a Vezina Trophy nomination, and the thought of anyone other than him holding down the starting duties for the Vancouver Canucks in the immediate future was ludicrous.

Fast forward a year and several injuries, and the picture has changed drastically. Signed at a bargain rate at the beginning of training camp, Kevin Lankinen has appeared on the scene to steal the show and the starter’s crease.
But then, even last week, we were wondering where this situation was going in the long term. The Canucks seemed to be increasingly considering Lankinen as a present-day and future option, and that left Demko’s own future in the lurch.

Then came the announcement this past Friday of a five-year, $4.5 million contract extension for Lankinen, something that stands as a pretty clear sign of commitment.

The deal doesn’t necessarily spell the end of Demko in Vancouver. We recently discussed the potential merits of keeping both goaltenders for at least the 2025/26 season, at which point Demko’s own contract runs out, and he becomes a UFA.

But it’s certainly increased the odds of Demko being traded, whether that be at some point between now and the March 7 Trade Deadline or later on in the offseason.

Which, naturally, raises the question of what the trade market for Demko might be.

The goalie market is a fickle one. Sometimes, teams seeking netminding are flush with options. Other times, it’s a real seller’s market. The current moment would seem to lean more toward the latter.

If Demko were to be put on the block, he’d be one of the few quality goalies up for sale.

The other big name out there is Anaheim’s John Gibson, himself with this year and two more left on a $6.4 million AAV contract. Depending on what happens, we could also see Detroit move veteran Cam Talbot.

Beyond them, we have a few pending UFAs who could reasonably move, starting with Utah’s Karel Vejmelka and Calgary’s Dan Vladar (already, we’re into backup territory). Other UFAs, like Vegas’ Adin Hill, could be available this offseason, but not right now.

It’s not a very deep pool, and that benefits the Canucks if they attempt to move Demko. In the present moment, Vejmelka and Gibson are the only real and significant competition, with Gibson being the only option whose contract goes beyond this year (and like Demko, also injured at the moment). This summer, Hill might enter the picture as further competition, but that’s about it.

That means that the teams looking for goaltending won’t get too far down their list until they hit Demko’s name. That serves the Canucks well, so long as there are actually teams out there looking for goaltending.

The timing will be tricky if the Canucks want to move Demko between now and the March 7 Trade Deadline. Demko is currently out ‘week-to-week’ with another injury, and he’s not set to join the Canucks again until they return from their road trip on March 2. That gives him less than a week – and only one scheduled game – between his return and the deadline. That’s not a lot of wiggle room.

So, for a team that needs a goalie this year and only this year, to target Demko would require a major leap of faith. But a team that might need a goalie both this year and next year? That’s the ideal market for Demko, and we’ve found six teams to match.

The Hurricanes are the team that has already been attached to Demko in rumours, mostly regarding their interest in having him thrown into any Elias Pettersson deal that was talked about in the past.

The need is obvious, with Carolina being competitive in the present moment, but Pyotr Kochetkov hasn’t stepped up to the goaltending plate, and Frederik Andersen’s litany of health issues continues to be a problem.

Would the Hurricanes have any interest in another absence-prone goalie? Well, yes, apparently. And so the Hurricanes stand out as a team that might trade for Demko before the deadline, injuries and all. They are absolutely in a ‘go for it’ year and will continue to be next season.

Against all odds, the Blue Jackets are still tied for a playoff spot as of this writing, and this franchise is going to do everything it can to see the postseason in 2025. It’s not an ‘all-in’ year for them by any means, but they’ve also needed an upgrade on Elvis Merzlikins for some time now. Demko makes ample sense, especially considering that Columbus isn’t exactly a prime destination, and Demko has no trade protection on his contract, whereas someone like John Gibson does.

Demko, if healthy, makes the Blue Jackets a much better team

The Red Wings have a fine enough goaltender for the moment in Talbot, who has them in a playoff position, and some interesting prospects in Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine. But they’re also a franchise interested in taking that next step with their young core, and acquiring a star goaltender is definitely one way to do that.

Detroit is on a long enough timeline that they can take a bit of a risk with Demko’s current health woes and hope that he turns it around sometime between now and next season. This could be a suitor that likes the idea of having a year and change to assess Demko and their young up-and-comers both before committing to a re-sign. 

Goaltending is the weakest link in the chain fence that is the Edmonton Oilers, and has been for a while. Stuart Skinner just isn’t going to get it done, and thus, the Oilers should be all over any upgrade that happens to become available. We imagine they’ll kick tires on Gibson first and foremost, but it won’t take much for them to inquire about Demko, too.

Whether or not the Canucks would be prepared to deal Demko to their divisional rival is another matter altogether. Suffice it to say that the Oilers would need to have the best offer on the table, and perhaps by a longshot, in order to get this trade done. 

We might be stretching the bounds of ‘right now’ with the Flyers, as they’re five points out of a playoff spot and fading fast. But whether it’s right right now or just as soon as next year, the Flyers need to sort out their goaltending situation. None of the options on hand look like long-term solutions, but Philadelphia has the pieces elsewhere on their roster to start becoming more competitive as soon as 2025/26.

Does that make Demko the missing piece? Given all the waiting around they’ve done on goalies of late, the Flyers might be one of the teams with the patience on hand to find out.

Okay, we’re really stretching the limits of ‘right now’ now. The Sharks are going nowhere fast in 2024/25 and will be happy to ride the year out with their current arrangement of Alexandar Georgiev and Vitek Vanecek while Yaroslav Askarov plies his trade in the minors.

But as soon as next year, they’ll want better veteran support for Askarov, and who better than the California Kid himself, Demko? The Sharks may trade for Demko in the present moment to prevent one of the other Cali teams, who are listed in the next section, from getting their hands on him, and that’s why they fit into the ‘right now’ category. If not now, soon.

The following teams might not have much interest in trading for Demko between now and the March 7 deadline. But, their needs may change in such a way between now and the 2025 offseason so as to change their plans – change their plans in the direction of Demko, that is.

As we’ve mentioned enough times by now, the Ducks have Gibson under contract right now, but they may move him soon. They’ve got Lukas Dostal in place as the heir apparent. Would they be interested in platooning him with a local-ish veteran like Demko? That probably depends on whether or not they can turn a profit in the exchange – as in, trade Gibson for more than it costs them to bring in Demko.

That seems at least somewhat likely to be the case.

The Blackhawks are going to have to take that next step as a franchise eventually. They’ll pick up another lottery selection in the 2025 Entry Draft, but tanking again in 2025/26 is best avoided, if at all possible, lest the tone around the team become outright depressing.

Chicago will have nothing but cap space on hand, and they may desire to upgrade on Petr Mrazek to a goaltender who can steal games for them. Demko might be one of, if not the only, one of those available in the summer.

The Kings have done pretty okay with their tandem of Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich this year, but they’re not a duo that can be relied upon in either the medium or long term. Mark them down, then, as the third and final California team that could reasonably show some interest in acquiring Demko, which makes for a nice little regional bidding war.

LA has some notable goaltending prospects, too, but also the most immediate desire to compete.

If the Penguins are going to make one last run with Sidney Crosby at the helm, they may need to upgrade on their goaltending. Tristan Jarry isn’t it, Alex Nedeljkovic probably isn’t, either, and young Joel Blomqvist isn’t quite ready.

Pittsburgh is willing to take risks if it means more postseason action for its aging core, as evidenced by its acquisition of Erik Karlsson last year. This might be the rare team that is interested in Demko for next year and next year only, then allowing him to walk as a UFA (or flipping him to someone else at the deadline.)

Now, we get into the pending UFA business. Should Vejmelka walk to another team this summer, the still-to-be-named Utah Hockey Club may have a desire to bring someone in to continue platooning with the mercurial Connor Ingram. Demko seems as fine an option for that gig as any, and Utah isn’t that far from California, right?

If there are two things Utah is flush with, it’s cap space and burnable assets.

Should Hill go to UFA, he’ll be the top goalie on that market, which is plenty of reason for him to at least check it out. That will leave the Golden Knights scrambling for a replacement, and every year is an ‘all-in’ year when you play in Vegas. There is, again, some question about how willing the Canucks would be to send Demko to a divisional rival, but there’s little doubt that Vegas would at least acquire if they found themselves in Jack and Jill mode (down a Hill).

Six teams that should be in the picture now, and six that could be by the summer. That folks, appears to be a genuine market for the services of one Thatcher Demko, and that should, in theory, increase the odds of the Canucks collecting a reasonable return for him.

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