Thatcher Demko received a five-year contract from the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, according to a tweet by owner Francesco Aquilini. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The 25-year-old goalie could have become a restricted free agent after this season.
“Very happy to have Thatcher Demko under contract for the next 5 years!” Aquilini wrote on Twitter.
Demko is 12-12-1 with a 2.77 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and one shutout in 25 games in his second full NHL season. He has started 19 of Vancouver’s 26 games since Feb. 1, with Braden Holtby starting seven. Holtby signed a two-year, $8.6 million contract with the Canucks this offseason.
“I think there’s a lot on the table and I’m just really excited to get the opportunity to take that next step,” Demko told Sportsnet in November. “I want to be in Vancouver as long as I can. I want to be the guy.”
He is 8-3-0 with a 2.15 GAA and an NHL-high .937 save percentage in March (minimum 10 games). He was named the NHL Second Star for the week ending March 7 after going 3-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA, .969 save percentage and his first regular-season NHL shutout, a 4-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets on March 1.
Selected by Vancouver in the second round (No. 36) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Demko is 30-25-4 with a 2.92 GAA and .911 save percentage in 62 NHL regular-season games (59 starts) and 2-1 in four Stanley Cup Playoff games (three starts).
He helped the Canucks rally after they trailed 3-1 in the Western Conference Second Round last season against the Vegas Golden Knights, but Vancouver lost the best-of-7 series in seven games.
“I think it showed not only me, but it showed his teammates and coaches, our fans and the media, that he is the guy we thought he could turn out to be,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning said. “We believed that’s what he was capable of, but to actually see it for three games and for everybody else to see it, I think it was fantastic.”
Demko made 42 saves in a 2-1 victory in Game 5 to become the first rookie goalie to win an elimination game in his playoff debut since Jose Theodore for the Montreal Canadiens against the New Jersey Devils in Game 5 of the 1997 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Demko made 48 saves for a 4-0 win in Game 6, the most in a postseason shutout by an NHL rookie, and 128 saves on 130 shots in the series (0.64 GAA, .985 save percentage).
“I think the biggest thing I take away from that was just the mental step that I took,” Demko said. “That’s the thing that’s probably the biggest adjustment going through your career, having that mentality, creating that confidence and sustaining that confidence.”
The Canucks had their home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday postponed because two Vancouver players and a member of its coaching staff are in NHL COVID-19 protocol. The Canucks are tied with the Flames for fifth in the seven-team Scotia North Division, four points behind the Canadiens. The top four teams will make the playoffs.
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
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