Prospect Info: Thatcher Demko

[Seattle Totems]

Why be proactive about a players serious health concerns if it conflicts with management.

 

[Seattle Totems]

I'm not a concussion expert but I would think the issue with planes would be fairly obvious. There are a number of medical issues that negate air travel because of cabin pressure. People can actually die under certain circumstances.

When a person is concussed this means their brain is bruised and swollen. When you get on a plane the swelling increases even more. The brain is encased in a hard skull with sharp spikes inside. It's no wonder why people with concussions often report symptoms worsening after getting on planes.

 

[Lindgren]

On 1040 the Utica GM just commented that Demko had his first full practice yesterday and another good day today.

Finally some good news.

 

[mossey3535]

I'm not a concussion expert but I would think the issue with planes would be fairly obvious. There are a number of medical issues that negate air travel because of cabin pressure. People can actually die under certain circumstances.

When a person is concussed this means their brain is bruised and swollen. When you get on a plane the swelling increases even more. The brain is encased in a hard skull with sharp spikes inside. It's no wonder why people with concussions often report symptoms worsening after getting on planes.

Well from the ongoing Carcillo battle I think the issue is that many teams (in his case the Blackhawks) are following the NHL concussion protocol and using their team GP, not referring them to a neurologist. In fact he claims that no NHL team employs a neurologist. This might mean they only consult and are not directly employed, but it seems like an egregious mistake with what we know now about head injuries.

After following the protocol, the player is "medically cleared". In the case of a broken bone, "medically cleared" is pretty straightforward. In the case of concussion it is not.

This is what leads to issues like with Demko and Roussel this year. According to the official NHL protocol they are "cleared", but the tests are not administered by experts or even specialists.

IMO if you're going to use such a flimsy treatment plan you'd better err on the side of caution at all times. If Demko wasn't comfortable, he shouldn't have been denied extra time. A week in Vancouver would have been a small investment in a potentially huge part of this team going forward.

Also IMO we are lucky Pettersson's concussion fell in line with the protocol and he wasn't messed up by the flight only a couple days later.

Even worse, we don't seem to be taking any steps to learn from Demko and Roussel. After those incidents one would think that we would have re-evaluated our practices with regards to concussions. Clearly that hasn't happened.

 

[GetFocht]

Looks like he will be starting tomm, good to see Demko back in action

 

[StreetHawk]

On 1040 the Utica GM just commented that Demko had his first full practice yesterday and another good day today.

Finally some good news.

I agree. Finally some good news.

Still don’t get how we ended up with him taking a major step back in his recovery.

If he’s not ready for practice, why are you putting him on a plane. We’ve flown 3 guys who got concussed on the road back to Vancouver within 24-48 hours after they got hurt from SLC, Vegas, and Miami. Obviously, you have to get them back home. You’re not putting them on buses or trains for that trip back.

Don’t see what difference it would have made having him recover in Vancouver vs Utica. Until a player is cleared for practice I don’t see the point of not having them here. If I was aquillini I would be ticked off seeing Demko like this given the goalie injuries the Canucks incurred this year. Demkos recovery setback seems like a self inflicted would which didn’t have to happen.

 

[canuckslover10]

How did he look today?

 

[Johnny Canucker]

How did he look today?

Let in 2 on 21 shots for a 3-2 win.

 

[DL44]

Was also named First Star.

Fantastic return...

Now work towards getting back on the path that was leading to him being a Canuck next year and taking starts away from the number 1 ahead of him by Jan 2020..

 

[varano]

I'm a little behind on the life and times of thatcher demko. From what I know he was hurt this year to start.

If the canucks fizzle, do you think we'd see him play for vancouver in the last twenty games of the season?

 

[Intangibos]

Why

 

[M2Beezy]

Yeah i think he will. Nielsson will get traded and youll see Demko get some games and start as the backup to Markstrom next season

 

[Pip]

If one of Markstrom/Nilsson get injured then he will. I don’t think they trade either goalie to make room this year.

 

[DL44]

2.36 GAA

5 W

3 L

0

0.915 Sv%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Not too shabby...
He just has to keep on progressing.

He should be up post deadline... but I don't think its critical.

 

[Cupless44]

Why

You cannot go into this off season not knowing what you have in Thatcher Demko before roster decisions are made for next season. You will not know that until he plays in a reasonable amount of NHL games later this season.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

I think opportunities will present themselves and Demko will get some starts before this year is done - whether the team fizzles or not. It's a long season and injuries, fatigue happen whether you are winning or losing.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

I think he needs to be in the NHL. We waited too long to have Schneider become a full time goalie IMO and wasted some good years. Now obviously having Luongo on a long term contract complicated things. But there’s no such issue with Demko. Have him and Markstrom split the starts and then if Demko wins out he’s the starter.

 

[DownGoesMcDavid]

Better question...

If Dipietro lights it up at WJC and CHL playoffs,.

Do the Canucks trade Demko...

Go after a Veteran proven goalie this season and wait for Dipietro in 3 yrs.

 

[PetterssonSimp]

The Canucks will probably look to try to get some draft capital from moving Nilsson at the deadline, but very few teams are gonna be making goalie moves at the deadline as that’s usually a “grab a better backup” type of trade. They’d probably still call up Bachman as well.
Let the kid develop, this could turn into a Carter Hart situation of having a goalie nowhere near ready being lit up because the team also sucks around him.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Better question...

If Dipietro lights it up at WJC and CHL playoffs,.

Do the Canucks trade Demko...

Go after a Veteran proven goalie this season and wait for Dipietro in 3 yrs.

Trading Demko at this point would be a stupid move for a number of reasons...

1. The return, best case scenario, would be an early 2nd round pick. Exactly what we used in drafting him so we'd break even.

2. It creates another hole in the roster. We need a young goalie that is almost ready, and DiPietro won't be that guy for a number of years. It doesn't make sense to go after a veteran goaltender, aside from being a stopgap, since we need a goalie that fits into the age group of our new core moving forward.

3. Goalie prospects are incredibly difficult to predict. Regardless of how DiPietro and Demko perform, we should be keeping both to increase our odds of finding our next starter and giving both a fair shake. If Demko is legit and proves to be a quality NHL starter, then look at moving DiPietro once he gets some games in, similar to the Schneider trade. We might have a similar scenario as the Price/Halak situation, hopefully we're able to maximize our asset return and keep the better of the two.

 

[varano]

Better question...

If Dipietro lights it up at WJC and CHL playoffs,.

Do the Canucks trade Demko...

Go after a Veteran proven goalie this season and wait for Dipietro in 3 yrs.

Never man .goalies are fickle. Even high picks. Look at Zack fucale .

 

[DownGoesMcDavid]

Never man .goalies are fickle. Even high picks. Look at Zack fucale .

Which is exactly why im not opposed to trading them and signing proven veterans. Granted that the return is worth it.

Worked out for us in the Schneider for Horvat trade.

 

[varano]

Which is exactly why im not opposed to trading them and signing proven veterans. Granted that the return is worth it.

Worked out for us in the Schneider for Horvat trade.

I get what you're saying but the Canucks already did the whole "sign a goalie for three years til the young guy is ready" routine. I figure that getting him ten starts or so this year would be a good start to see if he could push for a tandem role next year

Keep in mind , Schneider had a lot more NHL experience than Demko has so trading him now wouldn't be equivalent.

 

[DownGoesMcDavid]

I get what you're saying but the Canucks already did the whole "sign a goalie for three years til the young guy is ready" routine. I figure that getting him ten starts or so this year would be a good start to see if he could push for a tandem role next year

Keep in mind , Schneider had a lot more NHL experience than Demko has so trading him now wouldn't be equivalent.

The sign a goalie for 3 years wasnt a failure beacuse of our goalies.

Miller for instance was ridiculously good here in the beginning. If we had him when we actually have a good roster in front of hin then i think we could have done damage in playoffs.


I just feel that scoring is soo high in the NHL and that it caters to offenxe that even the best goalies arent going to put up a wall on a consistent basis. The gap between elite goalies to good goalies isnt as big anymore.

I would much rather have a great defence core than a great goalie.

So if Demko can get that in a trade then id pull the trigger.

If not i feel Demko is going to be a fine starter in NHL.

Hes had something ridiculous like 5 goaltending coach in the last 3 yrs.

What he needs now is stability and more games.

 

[varano]

The sign a goalie for 3 years wasnt a failure beacuse of our goalies.

Miller for instance was ridiculously good here in the beginning. If we had him when we actually have a good roster in front of hin then i think we could have done damage in playoffs.


I just feel that scoring is soo high in the NHL and that it caters to offenxe that even the best goalies arent going to put up a wall on a consistent basis. The gap between elite goalies to good goalies isnt as big anymore.

I would much rather have a great defence core than a great goalie.

So if Demko can get that in a trade then id pull the trigger.

If not i feel Demko is going to be a fine starter in NHL.

Hes had something ridiculous like 5 goaltending coach in the last 3 yrs.

What he needs now is stability and more games.

I was actually referring to markstroms extension to give demko time