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Evaluating Demko’s Performance Since His Return

By: Brayden Fengler / January 23, 2025  

Demko has now played just over ten games so far this season, with his 11th outing of the season being Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at home.

While Demko’s sample size is small and was interrupted by a minor back injury, there is now at least a double-digit amount of games that #35 can be initially judged for.

What can be determined from Demko’s play so far, and what if anything does it say about this time as it stands halfway through the 2024-25 season?

Road To This Season

This is a well-worn book by this point in 2025, but it’s worth highlighting the fact that it is now the end of January, and Thatcher Demko has played as many games now as he had by the middle of November this time last year.

Demko was of course injured at the start of last year’s playoff run, a run that in many respects feels like a lifetime ago. There was some initial speculation that by the time the Canucks were deep into round two Demko may be able to return during a later playoff round, but in hindsight, it’s clear that these were simply wishful hypotheticals.

Demko also went on to miss the start of this season, with his return being pushed until the start of December. As noted up top, he has now played 11 games with just over a month of hockey behind him during this campaign.

Demko’s Initial Games

While Demko has started 11 games, he has only finished 10, leaving the January 2nd contest against the Seattle Kraken early, which resulted in another short stint away from the team, due to the mentioned back spasms. In the 10 finishes, this season Demko is credited with 3 wins 4 losses and 3 overtime losses.

These numbers are not exactly overwhelmingly positive. The one silver lining that can most easily be taken from his results so far is that at least during six out of 10 full games played, Demko has earned his team a point of some kind.

Rick Tocchet says Thatcher Demko suffered from back spasms, and that's why he had to leave the game. #Canucks @sportsnet650.bsky.social

Brendan Batchelor (@batchhockey.bsky.social) 2025-01-03T06:10:27.934Z

Looking at other standard goaltender metrics, his goals-against average and save percentage are not good for his standards. Demko currently sits with a .873 save percentage, letting in on average 3.23 goals per night. His save percentage specifically, ranks Demko at 75th in the league for goalies this season.

There are only four goalies below him who have played the same or more games as him, and who hold worse save percentages. Those goalies are Daniil Tarasov, Aleksei Kolsov, Philipp Grubauer and Cayden Primeau. Yes, there are a handful of goalies with 1-2 games under their belt, that have happened to play better than Demko in their few contests, and thus rank higher than him in league-wide save percentages on the year.

But the vast majority of goalies in front of Demko in this ranking are the league’s most utilized goalies and Demko ranks below them, plain and simple.

After Demko’s first 11 games last year, he was only behind Alexander Georgiev by one, for most wins by that point in the season, along with holding the best save percentage of any goalie with 11 or more games played at .932. While the circumstances around both seasons’ first 11 games could not be more different, the contrast between Demko’s combined results in either case is stark.

In House Competition

It may have seemed like a bigger deal if the rest of the team hadn’t been harpooning this season altogether, but Kevin Lankinen has been a great get for the Canucks. Lankinen has helped the Canucks to 16 wins, six overtime losses, and eight losses overall.

Doing so with a .904 save percentage and 2.49 goals against average. His numbers are at this time vastly superior to Demko’s. Lankinen is the 16th-best goalie in the league as it stands right now when accounting for a combined ranking of overall wins and save percentage.

It’s worth noting in the same breath that Vancouver as a team sits as the 19th-ranked team in the league overall.

When a goalie’s individual rank outperforms that of the club he’s backstopping, that’s a great sign for the goalie but not for the team. For better or worse this used to be a position that Demko found himself in, but Demko does not appear to be in a position to do what Lankinen is doing right now.

Nick Robertson gets a good shot off but Kevin Lankinen is there to make the save! 🎥: Sportsnet | NHL#Canucks #LeafsForever

CanucksArmy (@canucksarmy.bsky.social) 2025-01-12T00:43:15.210Z

Kevin Lankinen has been a great solution for the club this year and could’ve been a great backup for Demko moving forward under different circumstances. But to Lankinen’s credit, he has played himself out of that potential role. He is a starter, and the Canuck’s can’t afford to keep him past this year when his contract lapses because he certainly will no longer accept the $875k that he is making now.

Demko’s Future

Patrik Allvin stated at his mid-season media availability that he wants to see more out of Demko during the next half of the season. Whether that is a nudge to Rick Tocchet to play Demko more or nothing more than a general offhand interest in seeing Demko get more reps, it does not seem like Demko is at risk of going anywhere in management’s eyes.

Demko may not have gotten off to a hot start this year, but you know what, neither did the Canucks on the whole, and most of them actually did start playing in October. It seems that the team has patience for Demko, and the hope is that he does improve.

So long as his injuries remain a non-factor, the Canucks should continue to have patience for Demko. Their 29-year-old goalie has given them a lot over many years when they have given him very little back. The Canucks can afford to give him a bit more time to find his groove again.