Why Thatcher Demko could be a top Vezina Trophy candidate in 2023-24

On the latest episode of Daily Faceoff Live, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed whether Thatcher Demko could be a Vezina Trophy candidate this year.

Tyler Yaremchuk: One of your bold predictions was centred around the Vezina Trophy. Thatcher Demko is a bit of a long shot to win this award, why do you like him as your pick, he’s not even top five on the odds board.

Frank Seravalli: Yeah, which makes it even juicier. Look, I think all these guys that are top five on the odds board are all fantastic guys that you can rest your head on the pillow every night knowing that your team is going to be in the mix and compete. Juuse Saros might singlehandedly drag the Predators there but I would say with Thatcher Demko, if you really study his numbers and you look to people who know him. You talk to the team, you talk to people that see him put in the work, day-in, day-out.

Not only was he not healthy last year, this summer was the first one he’s had in a few where he was finally able to get the rest that he needed and enter camp fully healthy with a game plan to succeed. When Thatcher Demko is on, like the 16 or 18 games that he played at the very end of last season, he had a .920 save percentage to close out the year for the Canucks. I like Demko as a long shot choice. He’s got everything you need to be in that same category of goaltenders and if you’re taking the top five or top six guys that you’re talking about, I’d have Demko at seven.

He also hasn’t had much support in front of him, I don’t think the Canucks have defended well and that should change with the changes they’ve made on their blueline.

You can watch the rest of the episode here: