Canucks high on Demko, but won’t rush him to NHL
Connor Hellebuyck is the best college goalie there ever was.
The Winnipeg Jets drafted him five years ago. Two years ago, he debuted as a pro and started really blowing up. He was an AHL all-star and led the minor league with 58 games played in his rookie season.
Jets fans were going bananas. They wanted him starting in the NHL. The Jets instead split his next season between the minors and spot duty in the NHL. It went well, really well.
This fall he seemed ready for the next step. Until he wasn’t. After a nice start, things went sideways. It led to a two-week mental break in January, and people believing he was rushed.
All of this is a cautionary tale in Vancouver, where the Canucks will be trying to transition their No. 4-ranked prospect, Thatcher Demko, from NCAA star to productive minor-league goalie to NHL bonafide No. 1 status. How long will it take?
That question promises to be one of the biggest of the Jim Benning era.
“We are excited about his future, but we need to be patient with him,” Benning said. “We don’t want to rush him because he is an important guy.
“With young goalies, the last thing you want to do is get them up here and get them going before they’re ready and then have them lose confidence. We’re going to do the right thing by him because we feel so strongly about him as a player.”
There are those around the team who believe he may need two more full years in the AHL to be ready, maybe with some NHL experience sprinkled in.
“My theory on goalies is that you don’t really know what you have until they are 26 or 27,” Benning said.
“He came a long way this year but we’re not going to put him in situations where he could lose confidence and doesn’t keep developing.”
Demko’s results were mixed this season in Utica, where he finished with a .907 save percentage, second on his team behind Comets running mate Richard Bachman, who posted a .908 save percentage.
But Demko got better as the season went on and had two great runs. Both unfolded when he was the only real option — one time when Bachman was hurt, the other with Bachman in the NHL.
The second run was the most impressive, a 17-game stretch during which he went 13-4 with a .933 save percentage and a 1.90 goalsagainst average.
The handling of Jacob Markstrom is a good indicator of just how patient Benning is with his goalies. Heck, Markstrom is 27 and the Canucks still aren’t ready to give him a shot at No. 1, as they’ve been vocal about their desire to resign Ryan Miller.
That Miller contract could be telling. There’s not going to be a lot of interest for the soon-to-be-37 goalie, and the Canucks could bring him back on a one-year deal.
If it’s a two-year deal, however, it will be a strong suggestion as to how much seasoning Demko still needs in the minors before he’s deemed ready for his big chance.