The Vancouver Canucks will have to wait a little longer before they find out if they’ve got another goaltender on their roster.
“Thatcher Demko, the Boston College goaltender who belongs to the Canucks and can be a free agent after next year — he’s told the team he will wait at least a week before making a decision on his future,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said during Saturday’s Headlines segment.
Demko’s options are to sign with the Canucks, who drafted him 36th overall in 2014, or return to BU for his senior season with the Eagles.
The 20-year-old San Diego native has been building quite the resume with the Eagles. In addition to being nominated for this year’s Hobey Baker Award (which Jimmy Vesey won), Demko received the 2016 Mike Richter Award as the top goalie in NCAA men’s hockey.
Demko’s junior year saw him reach career highs in shutouts (10 — including six in his first seven games), GAA (1.88), save percentage (.935), wins (27) and games played (39 — just two games shy of playing in every Eagles game this season).
Interestingly, Demkos’s 10 shutouts in 2015-16 pass the record previously set by ex-Canucks goalie Cory Schneider (8).
“We’ll talk to him after his season is done,” Canucks GM Jim Benning told Sportsnet last month. “We’ve always kept in good communication with him. We’ll talk to him and see where he’s at, but from our perspective, when his season is done we’d like for him to turn pro.”
If he does opt to go pro, Demko will close his college career with a 62-26-10 record, including a save percentage of .928 and a goals-against average of 2.08.
“I have my mind focused on this job and I think (Vancouver) is just giving me some respect in that regard,” Demko told the Canadian Press recently. “I’m sure there will be discussions over the summer of what they want, what I want.”
