RWJC Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Casey DeSmith Expected To Test Free Agency June 7th, 2024 at 7:00pm CST • By Brian La Rose After being acquired right before training camp, Casey DeSmith had a solid season between the pipes for Vancouver. However, it appears it will be one and done for his time with the Canucks as Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reported in a recent appearance on Sportsnet 650 (audio link) that there have been no contract talks for the pending unrestricted free agent and that the team is likely to go with Arturs Silovs as their backup next season. Vancouver acquired the 32-year-old from Montreal in mid-September, sending winger Tanner Pearson and a 2025 third-round pick the other way. In doing so, they were able to get an upgrade behind starter Thatcher Demko while also freeing up $1.45MM in cap space. DeSmith played in 29 games during the regular season where he posted a 2.89 GAA and a .895 SV%, the latter number being a career low. Nonetheless, that still represented a considerable upgrade over the .871 mark from Spencer Martin and .882 from Collin Deliaback in 2022-23. DeSmith also made a pair of playoff appearances following Demko’s injury before being injured himself. That gave the net to Silovs who took the net and ran with it for the rest of Vancouver’s postseason. While Silovs is also a pending free agent, it stands to reason that he’ll earn a fair bit less on his next contract than DeSmith. Silovs is only eligible for restricted free agency and with just 19 career NHL appearances (regular season and playoffs combined), they should be able to get him signed on a short-term bridge contract around the $1MM range. Those savings could be useful as they look to try to re-sign some of their key pending unrestricted free agents, highlighted by Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. As for DeSmith, despite his lower save percentage, he could be in line for a raise from the $1.8MM he made in each of the last two years. It’s not a great free agent class for goaltenders and there’s a good chance several backups will be moving around. That should create enough openings for there to be a market for DeSmith’s services once the market opens up on July 1st. https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2024/06/casey-desmith-expected-to-test-free-agency.html#ref=home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWJC Posted June 8 Author Share Posted June 8 No surprises here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Long Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Thanks and good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R3aL Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Minnesota game was where I kinda lost my belief in him. But honestly he was a decent back up and he won a big playoff game for us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Was a great teammate and gave us a chance every night with Demko out. I wouldn’t be against trying to make a similar trade for a cheap veteran backup though. I’m not as sold as some that Silovs can handle 25-30 games. We’ve seen more than ever that Demko’s load needs to be managed better. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWJC Posted June 8 Author Share Posted June 8 8 minutes ago, DeNiro said: Was a great teammate and gave us a chance every night with Demko out. I wouldn’t be against trying to make a similar trade for a cheap veteran backup though. I’m not as sold as some that Silovs can handle 25-30 games. We’ve seen more than ever that Demko’s load needs to be managed better. Or camp PTO? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Just now, RWJC said: Or camp PTO? Not sure the quality of goalie you get on a PTO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWJC Posted June 8 Author Share Posted June 8 19 minutes ago, DeNiro said: Not sure the quality of goalie you get on a PTO. Veteran back ups who are decent stop gap call ups. We also don’t have the money to spend on a true NHL backup at this time or DeSmith would probably still be in the conversation. kind of stuck for now with what we have in a Demko/Silovs pairing unless some unforeseen situation occurs and Silovs is sent back to Abby for further development. Hard to envision that occurring though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Good luck to DeSuck. He will get another backup contract. Not a fan. Bye bye. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJockitch Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 He was a good back up but it is time for the road games to be Arty Parties. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 1 minute ago, DrJockitch said: He was a good back up but it is time for the road games to be Arty Parties. Yup. 1.5 for Arty as our 35 game backup is the way to go. It’s bye bye to Deshit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWJC Posted June 8 Author Share Posted June 8 28 minutes ago, Alflives said: Good luck to DeSuck. He will get another backup contract. Not a fan. Bye bye. Why so much resentment over DeSmith, Alfred? Did he forget the secret handshake or something? Apparently the players loved him as a teammate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 2 minutes ago, RWJC said: Why so much resentment over DeSmith, Alfred? Did he forget the secret handshake or something? Apparently the players loved him as a teammate. Seems like he’s one of the genuinely good guys in the league. Very happy he was apart of the team this season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Brodka Jr Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 That game vs Minnesota was a shit show! He was dead to me from that point on.. Fortunately for DeSmith, The NHL Goaltending pool is soooo weak he'll easily find a spot and play another 30-35 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Provost Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 I wouldn’t close the door. Trading Silovs might be a way to improve the roster and help deal with some cap constraints 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWJC Posted June 8 Author Share Posted June 8 6 minutes ago, Provost said: I wouldn’t close the door. Trading Silovs might be a way to improve the roster and help deal with some cap constraints Silvos is almost a minimal cap hit though and could be the goalie of the future for our club. You don’t trade away that price point and potential combined to create relatively minor cap space, even if it’s a portion of the grand scheme of things. It just creates another problem 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJockitch Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 10 hours ago, Alflives said: Yup. 1.5 for Arty as our 35 game backup is the way to go. It’s bye bye to Deshit. He hasn’t earned 1.5 yet. ‘DeSmith was solid backup for us and a class act. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanucksFan26 Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 10 hours ago, Provost said: I wouldn’t close the door. Trading Silovs might be a way to improve the roster and help deal with some cap constraints Trading Silovs would be a horrible choice. Despite his play at the end of the season, we have to remember he’s played less than 20 NHL games so he probably has virtually no trade value. With his talent he’s still not considered a high end prospect such as someone like Askarov in Nashville so he won’t get much back. He also will probably get extended at 1.25 mil or less so I wouldn’t really say he’s going to hurt our cap. With what he has currently shown he could be a very good NHL starter one day and his trade value could only really improve with another 30-50 games under his belt the next couple years. The other thing we need to remember before trading a goalie prospect with potential is that Demko has a huge history of injuries. Obviously Demko is our guy and I hope he is for another 8-10 years, but it would not be wise to trade a potential successor if his injuries catch up sooner or anything like that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Provost Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 43 minutes ago, CanucksFan26 said: Trading Silovs would be a horrible choice. Despite his play at the end of the season, we have to remember he’s played less than 20 NHL games so he probably has virtually no trade value. With his talent he’s still not considered a high end prospect such as someone like Askarov in Nashville so he won’t get much back. He also will probably get extended at 1.25 mil or less so I wouldn’t really say he’s going to hurt our cap. With what he has currently shown he could be a very good NHL starter one day and his trade value could only really improve with another 30-50 games under his belt the next couple years. The other thing we need to remember before trading a goalie prospect with potential is that Demko has a huge history of injuries. Obviously Demko is our guy and I hope he is for another 8-10 years, but it would not be wise to trade a potential successor if his injuries catch up sooner or anything like that. So you have made a bunch of assumptions and your ability to tell the future? There are plenty of goalie prospects who look good, virtually none of them manage to turn into a reliable NHL starter. By FAR the greatest likelihood is that this is the high water mark for trade value for Silovs. Back up goalies are easy to get on the market. There are a number of teams looking for goaltending help, and if he can get us a return, he is a luxury right now and not a necessity for the roster. You don't avoid making the team better now for the remote chance that Demko isn't able to be a starter anymore AND exactly at the point where Silovs is available for us and hasn't wanted to move on to further his development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Long Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 13 hours ago, Alflives said: Yup. 1.5 for Arty as our 35 game backup is the way to go. It’s bye bye to Deshit. I think we can get him for 1 mil x 2 years. He'll get the Podz deal. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Just now, Bob Long said: I think we can get him for 1 mil x 2 years. He'll get the Podz deal. And saving that 500k on the cap allows PA to bump the cap allocation to Lindy and Big Z by 250 k each. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kettlevalley Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 My issue with Desmith was what he stopped more then how many he stopped. He just seemed to let in goals at the worst possible time. Nothing like the goalie causing momentum swings. I wish him well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteyBoeser Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 16 hours ago, DeNiro said: Was a great teammate and gave us a chance every night with Demko out. I wouldn’t be against trying to make a similar trade for a cheap veteran backup though. I’m not as sold as some that Silovs can handle 25-30 games. We’ve seen more than ever that Demko’s load needs to be managed better. Yes. Silovs great but have to play more to see where he’s at. He let in many shots from far away. That part I didn’t like. Also his positioning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Pettersson Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 16 hours ago, DeNiro said: Was a great teammate and gave us a chance every night with Demko out. I wouldn’t be against trying to make a similar trade for a cheap veteran backup though. I’m not as sold as some that Silovs can handle 25-30 games. We’ve seen more than ever that Demko’s load needs to be managed better. He literally played 10 games as a starter in the playoffs. Why don't you think he could play 25-30 games as a backup? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Pettersson Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 2 hours ago, Provost said: So you have made a bunch of assumptions and your ability to tell the future? There are plenty of goalie prospects who look good, virtually none of them manage to turn into a reliable NHL starter. By FAR the greatest likelihood is that this is the high water mark for trade value for Silovs. Back up goalies are easy to get on the market. There are a number of teams looking for goaltending help, and if he can get us a return, he is a luxury right now and not a necessity for the roster. You don't avoid making the team better now for the remote chance that Demko isn't able to be a starter anymore AND exactly at the point where Silovs is available for us and hasn't wanted to move on to further his development. How many of these goalie prospects won the best PLAYER award at the World Championships? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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