Pre-Game Talk: GM13 | Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers | Sat. Nov 9th | 7:00pm PST | HNIC/SNP | Do It For Brocky

[VanillaCoke]

Debrusk-Miller-Suter
Joshua-EP-Garland
Heinen-Blueger-Sherwood
Sprong-Raty-Hoglander

Lfg.

 

[EpochLink]

Epoch! Happy birthday pal

Thanks my dude, I'm at the stage of 'f*** it, can't bitch about shit' phase.

 

[bandwagonesque]

That should absolutely be the plan. Demko needs to be eased in, and then workload managed. Especially with Lankinen playing the way he is.

Yeah, this has been on my mind. How does a goalie with a chronic injury make it through four playoff rounds?

 

[Angry Little Elf]

Today is my birthday, 39 years young.

Joined this forum when I was a young 20, great to be here with you guys.

Happy birthday man! Always enjoy your posts here!!

It’s funny. It feels like everyone on the Canucks board is a friend of mine but we don’t even know each other’s names or we could pass each other on the street and not know it’s someone we interact with

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Yeah, this has been on my mind. How does a goalie with a chronic injury make it through four playoff rounds?

I think by resting him lots in the regular season so he’s ready for a big run is the answer (hopefully).

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Happy birthday man! Always enjoy your posts here!!

It’s funny. It feels like everyone on the Canucks board is a friend of mine but we don’t even know each other’s names or we could pass each other on the street and not know it’s someone we interact with

So many of us have quite literally grown up together on here. Marriages, kids (the tough stuff too, but trying to keep the good vibes going)

 

[MS]

Yeah, this has been on my mind. How does a goalie with a chronic injury make it through four playoff rounds?

I think by resting him lots in the regular season so he’s ready for a big run is the answer (hopefully).

At this point it's honestly a big assumption to even assume that his level of play will rebound to the point where he's be starting over Lankinen in Game 1 of this year's playoffs.

 

[Angry Little Elf]

So many of us have quite literally grown up together on here. Marriages, kids (the tough stuff too, but trying to keep the good vibes going)

This board has seen me graduate high school, university and get married in the time I’ve been here. Some of my best Internet friends are here

 

[bandwagonesque]

I think by resting him lots in the regular season so he’s ready for a big run is the answer (hopefully).

It's the only real option, clearly. But there's a cost to playing a goalie like Demko 30-40 games a season and it's not necessarily easy to find a 1B who is willing to live with no real prospect of playoff starts, or easy to find a good one period -- Lankinen's availability and performance have been incredible opportunities/strokes of luck.

At this point it's honestly a big assumption to even assume that his level of play will rebound to the point where he's be starting over Lankinen in Game 1 of this year's playoffs.

Absolutely. I was thinking this morning that within a few weeks, signing Lankinen long term this summer might be the outcome I consider most likely.

 

[BWJM]

Man once Joshua is back we could very well have the best 3rd and 4th lines in the league.

 

[MS]

It's the only real option, clearly. But there's a cost to playing a goalie like Demko 30-40 games a season and it's not necessarily easy to find a 1B who is willing to live with no real prospect of playoff starts, or easy to find a good one period -- Lankinen's availability and performance have been incredible opportunities/strokes of luck.


Absolutely. I was thinking this morning that within a few weeks, signing Lankinen long term this summer might be the outcome I consider most likely.

I don't see how we don't.

This is 3 straight years now where we haven't been able to rely on Demko. His injury basically cost us the 22-23 season, it cost us horribly in the 2024 playoffs, and it would have destroyed this season if not for Lankinen. There are lots of potential avenues going forward, but to me the one thing that is absolutely *not* an option is ever going back to a Demko-DeSmith type situation again with the expectation that Demko starts 50-60 games paired with a 'typical backup'. You just can't, even if that's what most people expect will happen. Demko's health can't be trusted.

The notion that we sign Lankinen for 2-3 years at $4 million or something to platoon with Demko certainly seems like the most likely outcome. But a) Lankinen might be pricing himself out of that range, and b) we'll have to make cuts elsewhere on the roster to accommodate $9 million in goalies for next year with the OEL penalty also going up.

I legit wonder if Demko will be here in 25-26, whether it's because his knee situation necessitates LTIR (we'll see how he plays and how much he can play when he returns) or we make a trade and move on and go with Lankinen moving forward. It's a fascinating situation right now. And a good one for this season, but a bit of a frightening one for future seasons.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Today is my birthday, 39 years young.

Joined this forum when I was a young 20, great to be here with you guys.

Happy birthday!!

I actually had to check just now and damn, 15 years since I joined. Sounds about right since that's more or less when I caught on with the Canucks and "betrayed" my Habs family

 

[bandwagonesque]

I don't see how we don't.

This is 3 straight years now where we haven't been able to rely on Demko. His injury basically cost us the 22-23 season, it cost us horribly in the 2024 playoffs, and it would have destroyed this season if not for Lankinen. There are lots of potential avenues going forward, but to me the one thing that is absolutely *not* an option is ever going back to a Demko-DeSmith type situation again with the expectation that Demko starts 50-60 games paired with a 'typical backup'. You just can't, even if that's what most people expect will happen. Demko's health can't be trusted.

The notion that we sign Lankinen for 2-3 years at $4 million or something to platoon with Demko certainly seems like the most likely outcome. But a) Lankinen might be pricing himself out of that range, and b) we'll have to make cuts elsewhere on the roster to accommodate $9 million in goalies for next year with the OEL penalty also going up.

I legit wonder if Demko will be here in 25-26, whether it's because his knee situation necessitates LTIR (we'll see how he plays and how much he can play when he returns) or we make a trade and move on and go with Lankinen moving forward. It's a fascinating situation right now. And a good one for this season, but a bit of a frightening one for future seasons.

Yep, I was thinking he might be LTIRed this offseason and the goaltending position basically revamped.

It's funny, the attitude toward Demko of late has been, "Oh well, we'll see him when we see him" without a lot of serious consideration of a future without him. At this point he hasn't been able to play in well over 6 months.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

I don't see how we don't.

This is 3 straight years now where we haven't been able to rely on Demko. His injury basically cost us the 22-23 season, it cost us horribly in the 2024 playoffs, and it would have destroyed this season if not for Lankinen. There are lots of potential avenues going forward, but to me the one thing that is absolutely *not* an option is ever going back to a Demko-DeSmith type situation again with the expectation that Demko starts 50-60 games paired with a 'typical backup'. You just can't, even if that's what most people expect will happen. Demko's health can't be trusted.

The notion that we sign Lankinen for 2-3 years at $4 million or something to platoon with Demko certainly seems like the most likely outcome. But a) Lankinen might be pricing himself out of that range, and b) we'll have to make cuts elsewhere on the roster to accommodate $9 million in goalies for next year with the OEL penalty also going up.

I legit wonder if Demko will be here in 25-26, whether it's because his knee situation necessitates LTIR (we'll see how he plays and how much he can play when he returns) or we make a trade and move on and go with Lankinen moving forward. It's a fascinating situation right now. And a good one for this season, but a bit of a frightening one for future seasons.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1629535946734546946

I always thought the trade rumors in 2023 was management testing the waters to see what a Demko trade would look like. The media put the whole rebuild/fire sale spin on it.

 

[alternate]

Anything short of an 8-1 win i will consider a colossal failure and I'll be calling for Tocchet's and Allvin's head.

 

[Vector]

Yep, I was thinking he might be LTIRed this offseason and the goaltending position basically revamped.

It's funny, the attitude toward Demko of late has been, "Oh well, we'll see him when we see him" without a lot of serious consideration of a future without him. At this point he hasn't been able to play in well over 6 months.

Mostly because you can't make any plans about what to do about the future until you know the status of his health/play. Everything should be on the table but you'll have no idea which direction makes sense for a while still.

 

[MS]

Yep, I was thinking he might be LTIRed this offseason and the goaltending position basically revamped.

It's funny, the attitude toward Demko of late has been, "Oh well, we'll see him when we see him" without a lot of serious consideration of a future without him. At this point he hasn't been able to play in well over 6 months.

Lankinen is probably playing better right now than Demko did last year.

My realization over the last month has been like 'f*** me, this guy can't be trusted, and with the nature of his injury we'll probably never be able to trust him again'.

You obviously want to see Lankinen in a bit bigger sample size but if he's still .920ing and playing like this after 40 games, there might be some tough decisions that need to be made.

 

[bandwagonesque]

Mostly because you can't make any plans about what to do about the future until you know the status of his health/play. Everything should be on the table but you'll have no idea which direction makes sense for a while still.

I think it's time to put the possibility of reconstructing the position right up there with how he may perform when he's back. My point is that this discussion has been curiously absent considering the trajectory of his injuries so far. It's already being leaked that he's going to be at some sort of "new normal," and probably a compromising one if it bears mentioning at all.

 

[Vector]

I think it's time to put the possibility of reconstructing the position right up there with how he may perform when he's back. My point is that this discussion has been curiously absent considering the trajectory of his injuries so far. It's already being leaked that he's going to be at some sort of "new normal," and probably a compromising one if it bears mentioning at all.

There's just no real discussion to be had only pure speculation. Kind of putting the cart before the horse.

The main thing that can be gleamed from all this is that, even if healthy and playing close to what he's capable of, he's a platoon goalie going forward. Lower-body can't handle what's needed and has been that way since his time in the NCAA.

 

[Josepho]

I have absolutely no idea if a Demko trade is possible or what it would look like.

Maybe Anaheim?

 

[Bojack Horvatman]

Lankinen is probably playing better right now than Demko did last year.

My realization over the last month has been like 'f*** me, this guy can't be trusted, and with the nature of his injury we'll probably never be able to trust him again'.

You obviously want to see Lankinen in a bit bigger sample size but if he's still .920ing and playing like this after 40 games, there might be some tough decisions that need to be made.

Yeah. I love Demko, but that next contract scares me. Just look at Colorado with Landeskog and Nichushkin. They can LTIR them but can't replace them because they need to be cap compliment if they come back. It's basically ended their window. He's also at the age that you worry about a Cory Schneider like regression because of the injuries.

 

[MS]

There's just no real discussion to be had only pure speculation. Kind of putting the cart before the horse.

The main thing that can be gleamed from all this is that, even if healthy and playing close to what he's capable of, he's a platoon goalie going forward. Lower-body can't handle what's needed and has been that way since his time in the NCAA.

When the 'best case' is that he's a platoon goalie and we'll have to invest $9 million+ in the position to support him, that raises serious questions about whether it's a sensible thing to move forward with him.

If your choice is to go Demko-Lankinen for $9 million and lose, say, Boeser in the process or go Lankinen-Vladar (or whatever) for $6 million and retain Boeser, plus harvest trade assets for Demko ... that's a pretty easy call on the second option for me assuming we do see a larger sample of this level of play from Lankinen.

 

[Vector]

When the 'best case' is that he's a platoon goalie and we'll have to invest $9 million+ in the position to support him, that raises serious questions about whether it's a sensible thing to move forward with him.

If your choice is to go Demko-Lankinen for $9 million and lose, say, Boeser in the process or go Lankinen-Vladar (or whatever) for $6 million and retain Boeser, plus harvest trade assets for Demko ... that's a pretty easy call on the second option for me assuming we do see a larger sample of this level of play from Demko.

I don't disagree but but there's so much information missing that there's not really much to be said at this point. Maybe Lankinen craters a bit, maybe Demko (as you said earlier) is terrible, maybe Demko can't recover and becomes a LTIR candidate, maybe they extend Lankinen to a sweet-heart deal, etc. Too many variables.

 

[MS]

I don't disagree but but there's so much information missing that there's not really much to be said at this point. Maybe Lankinen craters a bit, maybe Demko (as you said earlier) is terrible, maybe Demko can't recover and becomes a LTIR candidate, maybe they extend Lankinen to a sweet-heart deal, etc. Too many variables.

There are tons of variables, but when even if the best-case outcome happens (Demko comes back, plays well, looks like a 40-game platoon starter moving forward) it becomes debatable if it's a good idea to move forward with him ... there are lots of questions to be asked.

Most of the other potential outcomes (Demko gets hurt again, Demko comes back and plays horribly) would probably make it crystal-clear that moving forward with him isn't a good idea.

Obviously we don't have anywhere near all the answers yet, but this is going to be a fascinating point of interest/discussion over the next 6 months and into next summer.

 

[Tact]

I think by TDL we should have a more clearer picture of our goaltending future. But I agree with @MS regarding those concerns.