How much money does Demko want and will the Vancouver Canucks re-sign him?
The Vancouver Canucks have a decision to make with Thatcher Demko.
The All-Star goalie will be eligible for a new contract on July 1 and has made his desire to sign an extension very clear.
“I’ve always wanted to be a Canuck since day one. I want to be here,” said Demko at his exit interview this year. “I’d like to get an extension done [and] stay here.
While at one point it would’ve been easy for the Canucks to commit to Demko long term, the American’s injury history over the past few years has made it much harder.
Demko was incredible in the 2023-24 season, but he injured himself twice during the last few months, playing in just one postseason game. Those injury issues continued to plague him this past year. He played just 23 games and never looked perfectly comfortable, finishing with a .889 save percentage.
The emergence of Kevin Lankinen, who the Canucks signed to a five-year deal, has also made re-signing Demko less of a priority. Lankinen performed well this past season and is now locked up until the summer of 2030.
Before the injury issues, Demko would have likely been in line for a contract around the $64 million mark over eight years. Connor Hellebuyck, Ilya Sorokin, Jeremy Swayman, Jake Oettinger, and Juuse Saros all signed extensions over the past couple of years in that range.
The rising salary cap will push contract values higher, but the market price for elite goalies has been set around $64 million over eight years for deals signed in the past few seasons.
Due to the uncertainty surrounding injuries, Demko’s extension is now much harder to predict. The Canucks will be hesitant to make such a big commitment while Demko will be roaring to prove he still deserves it.
“It’s a tricky one and there’s risk to it,” said Canucks president Jim Rutherford at his year-end exit interview. “There will be risk on both sides…he’s 100% healthy now, he’s in a great frame of mind and we would like to extend him…it’s going to be a matter of how much risk the team is going to take and how much risk is he willing to take as to the term of that contract.”
From those comments, it sounds like the Canucks will be eyeing a much shorter contract. It’s possible they could be targeting a value similar to the $33 million over four years that the Ottawa Senators signed with Linus Ullmark.
As Rutherford said, both sides will need to accept risk and make concessions for a deal to happen here. Negotiations may seep into next season, where Demko will have the chance to prove he can return to top form and stay healthy. It would give both sides the chance to gather more information before signing any big contract.
Demko has been a key part of this Canucks core and when healthy, there’s no doubting he’s an excellent goaltender. His contract negotiations will not be easy, and it’ll be interesting to see the eventual outcome.