What Can the Toronto Maple Leafs Pick From the Canucks’ Carcass?
By Luke Ryan
Thatcher Demko
The Toronto Maple Leafs concerns when it comes to goaltending have been well documented, so of course there is an appeal in trying to add a young goalie that has proven himself able to handle the workload of a nominal number one.
Applying some common sense though, a deal for Thatcher Demko likely would not come cheap at all. Regardless of his 0.874 save percentage to start this season and 4.01 goals-against-average, he is still a valuable asset.
Last season, he maintained a 0.915 save percentage across 64 games with a goals-against-average of 2.72 suggesting that this season’s numbers so far might just be a blip or related to his team’s performance overall.
As such, it isn’t crazy to imagine a very high price being placed on Demko by the Vancouver Canucks; he’s very likely viewed in the tier just below untouchable in terms of any organizational re-jig.
The Leafs fans would like this move, but it likely isn’t a good idea, and it isn’t something this management group would likely consider.
He’s in year two of the same contract they didn’t want to give to Jack Campbell. Whatever anyone else’s opinions on goalie are, the Toronto Maple Leafs do not believe in spending assets or making long term commitments to them, due to their unpredictability.