Why Frank Seravalli thinks Demko will win the Vezina and the Canucks’ PK will climb the standings plenty: Canucks Conversation

On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Chris Faber were reunited once again following Faber’s wedding over the weekend!

The guys were back in their usual chairs to preview the Canucks’ home and season opener tonight against the Edmonton Oilers. They talked about Sam Lafferty’s addition to the team,  the “break glass in case of emergency” pairing of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek on defence, and much more!

Later on, they were joined by Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. Seravalli recently released 32 bold predictions — one for each team — over at DailyFaceoff.com, and for the Canucks, Seravalli’s take was that Demko will win the Vezina Trophy. Here’s what Seravalli said on the show when asked about that take:

“Supremely talented, healthy — healthy’s the biggest thing for me,” said Seravalli. “You can look at his numbers, like look at last year, then listen to him on Frankly Speaking with me when I was out in Van. He mentioned that he almost completely tore his groin and required surgery. That thing I think was hurt from like preseason workouts with Ian Clark before last year even started, so he was not good from the first drop of the puck and obviously it got worse to the point where he tried to grind through to his credit and couldn’t.

“But this year and the way that he finished last year, he entered this summer… for the first time having the ability to game plan and be healthy and be proactive on the training front as opposed to reactive and rehabbing, so that I think makes a big difference and I also think the Vezina is wide open this year. Goaltending in general is the most fickle position in pro sports, you don’t know what you’re getting year to year, even with some of the very best in the league.”

Seravalli also weighed in on a question Faber and Quads asked the listeners: Where will the Canucks’ PK rank league-wide by the end of the season? Seravalli pointed to a conversation he had with a former QMJHL coach to illustrate how the margins between a middle-of-the-pack PK and league-basement PK aren’t as wide as some would think.

Watch the full segment below!

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