The Canucks locked down their No. 1 goalie position on Wednesday by reportedly giving Thatcher Demko a five-year, $25M extension, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Demko was set to become a restricted free agent this season. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent when his deal expires in 2025-26.
The 25-year-old Demko made his Canucks debut in 2017-18, but did not receive a regular run until last season. He’s made 50 starts over the last two NHL seasons where he’s posted a .917 5-on-5 save percentage (per Natural Stat Trick) in nearly 2,400 minutes of ice time.
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The starting reins were handed over to Demko during last year’s Second Round series against the Golden Knights. That’s where he posted a .985 ESSV% in four appearances, with two of the three games he started ending with Canucks victories.
Locking up Thatcher Demko is a key move for GM Jim Benning. Still left on his plate are extensions for RFAs Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, who are both up this summer. In Hughes’ case, he is a 10.2c RFA, meaning he has not played enough NHL seasons to be eligible to receive an offer sheet, per Cap Friendly.
Very happy to have Thatcher Demko under contract for the next 5 years!
— Francesco Aquilini (@fr_aquilini) March 31, 2021
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.