Thatcher Demko

Last Season

Twenty appearances, 8-10-1, a 2.90 goals-against average and a .8949 save percentage with one shutout.

His career figure across 262 games is .9092, with 134 wins.

Over his last ten appearances, .884 on 250 shots.

The Physical Game

Six foot four, 192, and technically the best goaltender in this crease by a distance — the depth management is excellent, he is square through lateral plays, and the glove is genuinely good.

When healthy he is a legitimate starter and the numbers across two hundred and sixty games say so.

The Mental Game

The health is the entire page. A popliteus injury cost him most of a season, the recovery has been repeatedly interrupted, and twenty appearances is the second time in three years he has not reached forty.

He was a Vezina finalist three seasons ago.

The Intangibles

A .8949 across twenty games is poor and it is the best figure any Vancouver goaltender posted. Lankinen stopped .8755 in forty-seven and Tolopilo .8814 in twenty-one.

The club conceded 210 goals at five-on-five, the most in the league, against an expected 193.9.

He is 30, a second-round pick, and the whole question in Vancouver is whether the man with the .9092 career figure can play sixty games again. Nothing in the last three seasons suggests it and nothing else on this roster works if he cannot.