[Speculation] Canucks Testing Goalie Market Amid Thatcher Demko’s Injury

[N4ZZY]

On 8/23/2024 at 1:42 AM, German Canuck said:

He is worth it. Future elite goalie 

well, water under the bridge at this point. Already traded to SJ. 

 

[RWJC]

Not to fear monger, but this is making the rounds:

 

 

[Sophomore Jinx]

39 minutes ago, RWJC said:

Not to fear monger, but this is making the rounds:

 

 

 

[VegasCanuck]

36 minutes ago, RWJC said:

Not to fear monger, but this is making the rounds:

 

 

I think if it was torn, they would have spotted it already and he would have had surgery as soon as the playoffs were over. That said, he could have injured something in the summer during rehab.

 

I'm completely good with Silovs as our starter, but would like a solid additional goalie so that he doesn't have to carry too heavy a load too fast. If Demko is down to start the season, we have almost 1 million in regular cap space (when the hell was the last time that happened) plus 2.5 with Poolman, this would give us an additional 5. As long as Silovs doesn't go down with an injury, it could put us in awesome position at the deadline and for the playoffs.

[RWJC]

15 minutes ago, VegasCanuck said:

I think if it was torn, they would have spotted it already and he would have had surgery as soon as the playoffs were over. That said, he could have injured something in the summer during rehab.

 

I'm completely good with Silovs as our starter, but would like a solid additional goalie so that he doesn't have to carry too heavy a load too fast. If Demko is down to start the season, we have almost 1 million in regular cap space (when the hell was the last time that happened) plus 2.5 with Poolman, this would give us an additional 5. As long as Silovs doesn't go down with an injury, it could put us in awesome position at the deadline and for the playoffs.

Agreed.  There’s some strange mystery going around though that Demko was retraining to try and reach his return date target back during the season and potentially injured himself further then in being over aggressive. So much speculation but my concern is that he already started out in the league with hip surgery (which is pretty common in butterfly goalies), now the same knee affected twice by two different injuries that were enough to keep him out of a lot of games and some very important ones. Absolutely have to manage his workload this season regardless. 
 

Edited August 26 by RWJC

[zduck14]

2 minutes ago, VegasCanuck said:

I think if it was torn, they would have spotted it already and he would have had surgery as soon as the playoffs were over. That said, he could have injured something in the summer during rehab.

 

I'm completely good with Silovs as our starter, but would like a solid additional goalie so that he doesn't have to carry too heavy a load too fast. If Demko is down to start the season, we have almost 1 million in regular cap space (when the hell was the last time that happened) plus 2.5 with Poolman, this would give us an additional 5. As long as Silovs doesn't go down with an injury, it could put us in awesome position at the deadline and for the playoffs.

As much as I hate this Demko news, I agree and I'm also completely confident that Silovs and someone like Lankinen can get this team to at least a playoff spot. 

 

Adding Demko for the 2nd half of the regular season and playoffs would almost be ideal considering his injury history.

[RWJC]

Perhaps some Seravalli click bait…highly doubt there’s friction between Clark and Demko. Idiot always stirring the pot though.

 

Report: Thatcher Demko's Rare Injury Like A "Once in 50 Years" Occurence

 

Dave Litman 

Wednesday, August 28, 2024 

 

 

He suffered a rare injury to the back of his knee in Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs back in April, but now, as we near the end of August, there's still doubt that Vancouver Canucks' No. 1 netminder Thatcher Demko will be ready to start the season in October.

 

And now we get a report from NHL insider Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, who dropped this ominous bit of news he heard about Demko's injury:

 

“What happened with Thatcher Demko was a rare fluke injury... One doctor had explained it as, 'You could be in practice for 50 years and never see this injury.'

 

Initially, the Canucks hoped that it wasn't very severe, according to Seravalli, and that was evidenced by the fact that Demko was seen on skates during the second round. But of course, he never returned.  

 

As the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy this past season, it goes without saying how important Demko is to the Canucks' chances in 2024-25. But it sounds like whenhe'll return is still a mystery at this point. 

 

"If this is still lingering, it makes you wonder if there's anything they can do about this injury," said Seravalli on a recent episode of Oilers Now. "Sorry to be so vague about it, but if you gave me $1 million to explain what his injury is, I couldn't do it. All I know is it has something to do with the back of his knee.

 

I don't know where they go from here."

 

There's some thought, opines Seravalli, that perhaps goalie coach Ian Clark may have been overworking Demko, possibly contributing to the goalie's injury problems over the years, and also potentially explaining Clark's recent surprising shift out of his role and into a goalie scout and goaltending development coach for Vancouver.

 

“I think it’s fair to say that there’s probably been some friction there over the years when it comes to Demko and Clark,” said Seravalli.

 

Demko started 51 games this past season, and went 35-14-2 with a .918 save percentage and a 2.45 goals-against average with five shutouts. He missed just over a month near the end of the regular season, and then all of the playoffs save for the first game. He has two more years to run on his contract with a $5 million cap hit.

 

 

https://www.nhltraderumors.me/2024/08/report-thatcher-demkos-rare-injury-like.html

Edited August 28 by RWJC

[nergish]

Man, I used to love Frank when he first started. But he is now the ultimate click-bait peddler in hockey media.

 

[RWJC]

Yeah, let Artie rest. We need him.
 

 

Evening Notes: Oilers, Ullmark, Silovs

 

August 28th, 2024 at 8:46pm CST • By Josh Cybulski

 

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Artūrs Šilovs has been left off Latvia’s roster for this weekend’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The MVP of the 2023 IIHF World Championship was ready to start the tournament but was apparently overworked and the Latvian Hockey Federation’s medical staff opted to pull him from competition to avoid a serious injury (as per a translation from Satiar Shah of Sportsnet). It’s hard to read too much into the situation due to the translation, but it appears he is healthy enough to play, but is resting as a precaution.
 

https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2024/08/evening-notes-oilers-ullmark-silovs.html#ref=home

[DeNiro]

2 hours ago, RWJC said:

Yeah, let Artie rest. We need him.
 

 

Evening Notes: Oilers, Ullmark, Silovs

 

August 28th, 2024 at 8:46pm CST • By Josh Cybulski

 

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Artūrs Šilovs has been left off Latvia’s roster for this weekend’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The MVP of the 2023 IIHF World Championship was ready to start the tournament but was apparently overworked and the Latvian Hockey Federation’s medical staff opted to pull him from competition to avoid a serious injury (as per a translation from Satiar Shah of Sportsnet). It’s hard to read too much into the situation due to the translation, but it appears he is healthy enough to play, but is resting as a precaution.
 

https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2024/08/evening-notes-oilers-ullmark-silovs.html#ref=home

Gotta wonder if the Canucks stepped in and told him not to play.

 

Cant risk him going down.

[N4ZZY]

2 hours ago, DeNiro said:

Gotta wonder if the Canucks stepped in and told him not to play.

 

Cant risk him going down.

That's a very real possibility, especially with all the news surrounding Demko. 

 

Could you imagine if Šilovs went down? OMG. Season would be done before it's started. 

 

[RWJC]

More Goaltending Problems For Canucks, This Time With Arturs Silovs

 

Dave Litman 

Thursday, August 29, 2024 

 

He bailed out the Vancouver Canucks big-time in the playoffs last season after starter Thatcher Demko went down to injury in the first game of the opening-round series. But now, according to a new report, Arturs Silovs is joining Demko in the ranks of the walking wounded for the Canucks. 

Patrick Johnson of the Vancouver Province has revealed this news out of Lavia:

 

“Silovs is dealing with a knee problem, according to a statement released on X by the Latvian hockey federation.

The injury will keep him out of an Olympic qualifying tournament this weekend for Latvia.”

 

“Initially, it was planned to register goalkeeper Artūrs Šilov for the tournament, who, unfortunately, did not manage to recover quickly enough from knee ligament inflammation, which prevents him from participating in the tournament games with maximum performance."
 

There's no word yet on whether this will affect his training camp with the Canucks or the start of the season. 

We will have more as new information emerges. 
 

https://www.nhltraderumors.me/2024/08/more-goaltending-problems-for-canucks.html

 

 

From Patrick Johnson’s report in the Province:

 

”If you are the Latvian coaching staff, this is not your ideal plan.

And it’s all because Silovs is dealing with some sort of knee issue. At first, the Latvian coaching staff indicated Silovs’ absence was down to load management.

 

It’s the very beginning of the season, these are big games, so you can perhaps understand why you’d be cautious about workload at this stage of the season … but to not pick Silovs at all was eyebrow raising.

 

Latvia played a pair of warm-up games this week, but Silovs didn’t feature in either. He didn’t even dress — instead he was just a spectator, noted Latvia online sports news site Sportcentrs.

 

Harijs Vitolins told reporters after Monday’s game that Silovs “is ready to start the tournament.”

He hadn’t picked the young Canuck because he’d been working so hard this summer to prepare for the season and didn’t want to push him harder than necessary.

 

But then he added a curious caveat: they didn’t want to push Silovs into chronic injury territory.

Wait, what?

 

“We decided to protect him a little, let’s see,” Vitolins said (at least as delivered via Google translate.)

And then, Thursday, came the reveal: Silovs is dealing with a knee problem, according to a statement released on X by the Latvian hockey federation.

 

“Initially, it was planned to register goalkeeper Artūrs Šilov for the tournament, who, unfortunately, did not manage to recover quickly enough from knee ligament inflammation, which prevents him from participating in the tournament games with maximum performance,” they said.

 

That’s far from ideal news for anyone, not for Silovs, who is expected to serve as Thatcher Demko’s back this season, nor for the Canucks, who already have anxiety about Demko’s health; the Canucks have yet to comment, but it’s expected that the Canucks’ No. 1 will not be ready for training camp next month.”

 

https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/arturs-silovs-knee-injury

 

Edited August 29 by RWJC

[Bure10Kuzmenko96]

49 minutes ago, RWJC said:

More Goaltending Problems For Canucks, This Time With Arturs Silovs

 

Dave Litman 

Thursday, August 29, 2024 

 

He bailed out the Vancouver Canucks big-time in the playoffs last season after starter Thatcher Demko went down to injury in the first game of the opening-round series. But now, according to a new report, Arturs Silovs is joining Demko in the ranks of the walking wounded for the Canucks. 

Patrick Johnson of the Vancouver Province has revealed this news out of Lavia:

 

“Silovs is dealing with a knee problem, according to a statement released on X by the Latvian hockey federation.

The injury will keep him out of an Olympic qualifying tournament this weekend for Latvia.”

 

“Initially, it was planned to register goalkeeper Artūrs Šilov for the tournament, who, unfortunately, did not manage to recover quickly enough from knee ligament inflammation, which prevents him from participating in the tournament games with maximum performance."
 

There's no word yet on whether this will affect his training camp with the Canucks or the start of the season. 

We will have more as new information emerges. 
 

https://www.nhltraderumors.me/2024/08/more-goaltending-problems-for-canucks.html

 

 

From Patrick Johnson’s report in the Province:

 

”If you are the Latvian coaching staff, this is not your ideal plan.

And it’s all because Silovs is dealing with some sort of knee issue. At first, the Latvian coaching staff indicated Silovs’ absence was down to load management.

 

It’s the very beginning of the season, these are big games, so you can perhaps understand why you’d be cautious about workload at this stage of the season … but to not pick Silovs at all was eyebrow raising.

 

Latvia played a pair of warm-up games this week, but Silovs didn’t feature in either. He didn’t even dress — instead he was just a spectator, noted Latvia online sports news site Sportcentrs.

 

Harijs Vitolins told reporters after Monday’s game that Silovs “is ready to start the tournament.”

He hadn’t picked the young Canuck because he’d been working so hard this summer to prepare for the season and didn’t want to push him harder than necessary.

 

But then he added a curious caveat: they didn’t want to push Silovs into chronic injury territory.

Wait, what?

 

“We decided to protect him a little, let’s see,” Vitolins said (at least as delivered via Google translate.)

And then, Thursday, came the reveal: Silovs is dealing with a knee problem, according to a statement released on X by the Latvian hockey federation.

 

“Initially, it was planned to register goalkeeper Artūrs Šilov for the tournament, who, unfortunately, did not manage to recover quickly enough from knee ligament inflammation, which prevents him from participating in the tournament games with maximum performance,” they said.

 

That’s far from ideal news for anyone, not for Silovs, who is expected to serve as Thatcher Demko’s back this season, nor for the Canucks, who already have anxiety about Demko’s health; the Canucks have yet to comment, but it’s expected that the Canucks’ No. 1 will not be ready for training camp next month.”

 

https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/arturs-silovs-knee-injury

 

That's just fucking great

[Coconuts]

Cursed franchise is cursed 

[Gurn]

56 minutes ago, Bure10Kuzmenko96 said:

That's just fucking great

 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

[NoCupSyndrome]

On 8/24/2024 at 10:30 PM, DeNiro said:

I would say they’ve relied on him too heavily and put winning above his health.

 

This is why a competent backup is so important. They need to play him around 60% of the games, not the 80% they have in the past.

 

 

 

That long stretch of games after the all Star game was the main issue. They hardly played DeSmith at all and that is clearly where Demko for hurt unfortunately. Can't chase first place this year, need to ramp up so healthy and ready for the playoffs.

 

[NoCupSyndrome]

I am comfortable Mgmt will work out a solution

 

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

On 8/26/2024 at 1:47 PM, RWJC said:

Not to fear monger, but this is making the rounds:

 

 

[Bure10Kuzmenko96]

[Provost]

On 8/26/2024 at 2:29 PM, VegasCanuck said:

I think if it was torn, they would have spotted it already and he would have had surgery as soon as the playoffs were over. That said, he could have injured something in the summer during rehab.

 

I'm completely good with Silovs as our starter, but would like a solid additional goalie so that he doesn't have to carry too heavy a load too fast. If Demko is down to start the season, we have almost 1 million in regular cap space (when the hell was the last time that happened) plus 2.5 with Poolman, this would give us an additional 5. As long as Silovs doesn't go down with an injury, it could put us in awesome position at the deadline and for the playoffs.

It doesn't say when the surgery could have happened.  It could have happened in May/June which puts his recovery right around the start of the regular season.

[Gawdzukes]

21 hours ago, RWJC said:

"If this is still lingering, it makes you wonder if there's anything they can do about this injury," said Seravalli on a recent episode of Oilers Now. "Sorry to be so vague about it, but if you gave me $1 million to explain what his injury is, I couldn't do it. All I know is it has something to do with the back of his knee.

 

I usually don't like to pile on unless it's a complete hacky smut and despicable lowlife like Drance but wow is this some of the dumbest reporting I've ever seen in my life.

 

Like thanks Servalli, you couldn't have said less if you tried.

[CanucksJay]

7 minutes ago, Provost said:

It doesn't say when the surgery could have happened.  It could have happened in May/June which puts his recovery right around the start of the regular season.

 

If Demko is out and we need to bring up another goalie to tandem with Silovs, there goes our chance of accruing any capspace. We have 1m in capspace without putting Poolman on LTIR but adding another goalie to the roster would most likely have us over the cap and dipping into Poolman LTIR. 

If we want to maximize our spendings at the deadline, depending on Demko's return timeline it might look like this. 

 

If Demko is to return relatively soon,  sign a cheap goalie that you can bury in the minors once Demko returns and start accruing cap space then. 

 

If Demko is out a long time, maybe really milk it and give him surgery and a slow recovery and bring him back just for the playoffs. That would give us Poolman 2.5 along with Demko's 5 to spend at the deadline. 

[EB43]

Cover Myers in pads and throw him out there?

[Rocket-68]

Will play for sardines