Canucks' Rutherford talks goaltending, higher expectations ahead of season

VANCOUVER — Despite uncertainty over the status of Thatcher Demko and Arturs Silovs, Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said he feels “good” about the team’s goaltending two weeks before the start of training camp.

Rutherford said the Canucks are stronger now than they were before last season’s 109-point breakthrough.

Of course, he’d probably feel even better if Demko and Silovs weren’t recovering from injuries, however minor or significant, that the National Hockey League team has yet to explain. 

Rutherford confirmed in a Tuesday interview with Sportsnet that the Canucks’ star goalie and promising projected backup are still working their way towards full fitness as players return to Vancouver this week for informal practices ahead of the opening of training camp in Penticton on Sept. 19.

The Canucks’ first regular-season game is Oct. 9.

“As you know, I don't talk directly about potential injuries or the perception of where players are at (health-wise),” Rutherford said. “I feel good about our goaltending. Where that is for the start of training camp and the start of the season, I don't even know myself right now. We haven’t even done physicals yet. But I know our goalies are working hard and working towards being ready for the start of the season. As an organization, that's what we're hoping for.”

But just in case, Rutherford said the Canucks continue to consider options to bring in another goalie with NHL experience, even if the transaction is as modest as a professional tryout for training camp and the pre-season.

“We look every day at every position,” Rutherford said. “We don't just sit around and think we're all set. So we are aware that, potentially, we may have to take a goalie off of waivers in order to fill a gap for a little bit. The good news for us we are in a position that we can do that cap-wise. (But) we’d prefer to stay out of LTIR to start the season. That's important for us, and. . . we're pretty sure we can do that. A PTO could be an option.”

The Canucks have been linked in reports to free-agent goalie Kevin Lankinen, and have also gauged the possibility of a PTO for veteran Antti Raanta, who played for Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet during four seasons in Arizona.

To this stage, the Canucks’ pursuit of another goalie has been a slow simmer, although urgency could ramp up over the next month depending on Demko and Silovs.

A Vezina Trophy runner-up last season after winning 35 games and posting a .918 save percentage, Demko injured his knee in the Canucks’ playoff-opener against the Nashville Predators on April 21. It was just the 28-year-old’s third game back after missing one month with an injury near the end of the regular season.

Demko was close to playing when the Canucks were eliminated from the Stanley Cup tournament — with Silovs in net — on May 20 against the Edmonton Oilers. He was expected to make a full recovery in the offseason and not require surgery. 

But CHEK-TV’s Rick Dhaliwal reported in August that Demko was still not fit and his recovery, although progressing, was slower than expected. It is believed (but not confirmed) that the San Diegan underwent at least some kind of surgical procedure during the summer.

After surpassing veteran backup Casey DeSmith and playing the Canucks’ final 10 playoff games last spring, Silovs trained all summer to be part of Latvia’s Olympic-qualifying squad but was left off his national team’s roster last week. The Latvian Hockey Federation said the 23-year-old suffered “knee ligament inflammation” — a result of over-training.

Demko returned to the ice this week, and Latvian general manager Rudolfs Kalvitis downplayed Silovs’ injury, telling Dhaliwal the goalie will be fine for Vancouver’s training camp.

As DeSmith left the Canucks in free agency on July 1, Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin signed experienced minor-league goalie Jiri Patera. The 25-year-old played only six NHL games for the Vegas Golden Knights the last two seasons.

Rutherford said he is “not really” surprised by anything that has happened with Canuck goalies.

“Regardless of how much work is done in the offseason, there's always something to deal with,” he said. “And, of course, the people in hockey operations have to stay on top of it and try to stay ahead of the curve.

“I mean, if a player gets injured working out or, in Silovs' case, getting ready to play for his country, I can't say that's a surprise. That's just the way life works for an athlete. But I can say that both our goalies are working hard and doing what they can right now to get ready.”

Any uncertainty in net hasn’t blunted Rutherford’s bullishness about his team, which lost costly free-agent rentals Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov on July 1 but added free-agent forwards Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Kiefer Sherwood and Daniel Sprong, as well as defencemen Derek Forbort and Vincent Desharnais.

“We have more depth and more balance in our forward lines,” Rutherford said. “I believe that that position could be pretty competitive in camp when you look at some of the younger guys we have coming (from the American Hockey League) that are either ready or are very close to playing in the National Hockey League. And I can say the same thing about our defence from where we were a year ago.

“And of course, our goaltending is very good with Demko and Silovs. So I would say more depth and more balance throughout the lineup, but especially in the forward group.”

Rutherford said the biggest key for the Canucks is their mindset — players and others in the organization realizing that they need to match last season’s drive and focus and not forget how hard everyone worked to build a 50-win campaign and make it to Game 7 of the second round.

“Don't veer off from what we did as a team,” the 75-year-old Hall-of-Famer cautioned. “The expectations are higher now. And how do players deal with that? 

“I would suggest that everybody learned from last season. . . and know what it takes to take that next step. This team is certainly in a much stronger position because the players have learned to play Rick Tocchet's system, and have bought into it and played it well. And we learned from experience with what we went through last year. You put all that together and stay focused, and you prepare to take another step.

“I am excited. And I base my excitement on little bits I hear back from the players in the offseason, from the coaching staff, from hockey operations and ownership. That's how I judge my excitement at this point in my career; I've been doing this a long time. So, yes, based on those things, I'm very excited. We're all excited.”