i think with his injury history, nobody is really going to give term to him. I think at this rate, if we give him like a 3 year contract, that would probably be better that what other teams would be willing to offer.Hate to say it but I think we really should consider letting Demmer go,
it's gonna be a huge risk carrying that next contract of his (unless he goes for dirt cheap which I doubt)
At some point diehard Canuck fans have to reluctantly move off the idea that Demko is just the recipient of some 'bad injury luck'.
If his injuries aren't yet 'chronic', we have to accept that we might getting 'close'. When he hits 30, it's hard to see any scenario where the injury absences don't just magically go away.
It obviously leaves the Canucks in tough spot. They've taken excellent goaltending for granted so long, it's going to be a tough transition to land in the same goalie swamp that most of the rest of the NHL faces.
Lankinen goes from 'Plan B or C' to Plan A in a heck of a hurry.
Obviously Ian Clark can't take credit for Luongo or Schneider, but beginning with Markstrom, he's had a huge influence on the netminders the Canucks acquired or drafted over the years.If im not mistaken, the last asset we used on goaltending was a 2nd round pick for Mika Noronen.
Since then we've been gifted Luongo, Miller, Markstrom, Demko and Lankinen from the hockey gods.
They gods even propped up Eddie Lack and Arturs Silovs as being capable for us in a pinch while the others transitioned or recovered.
Your right we have taken it for granted for so long, were blessed, and we could soon find ourselves in tough in a goalie swamp...
.. But thats what all the goalie sacrifices in the 2000s was for.
Dont think for a second we are running out of that juju. We sacrificed ALOT of tendys back in the day we are nowhere close to run out.
Demko like Schneider before him is just us adding a new twist because we're bored. Drafted and developed, debilitating injuries.
Now sign Lankinen to his 5 x4 and lets see what other goaltending gifts and gods have in store.
Teams like Columbus have had one legit starter in their existance. We find them everywhere.
Trust the fact we sacrificed about 30 more Steve Mason's than they have and the gods owe us still.
Obviously Ian Clark can't take credit for Luongo or Schneider, but beginning with Markstrom, he's had a huge influence on the netminders the Canucks acquired or drafted over the years.
So it's no accident that Vancouver has enjoyed quite a run of excellent goaltending. Particularly impressive has been the guys he helped guide the Canucks to on the UFA market. Goalies like DeSmith and Lankinen this year, have come in and preformed phenomenally well for peanuts on the contract front.
It'll be interesting to see now that Clark has a reduced role on the Canucks--whether they continue to uncover netminders who were underrated and come to Vancouver and improve their games dramatically.
And speaking of great Canuck goaltending, I always thought Ryan Miller was almost criminally underrated during his time in Vancouver Granted he was well into his 30's by the time he arrived. But he backstopped some truly awful Canuck teams.
I guess you could say that the only goalie who really flopped badly was Braden Holtby. But after Markstrom bolted, the Canucks were in a tough spot and I suspect Benning had more to do with this signing than Clark.