Three Teams Officially Battling to Land Vancouver Canucks Goaltender Thatcher Demko

Earlier this week, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff released his offseason trade targets list which included a pair of Vancouver Canucks - Thatcher Demko (18th) and Elias Pettersson (20th).

Thatcher Demko has one year remaining on his contract with the Vancouver Canucks and as of July 1st, will be eligible to sign an extension with the club, something President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford isn't sure will happen this summer.

There are a few reasons why Thatcher Demko's name has shown up in trade rumors this week and will continue to throughout the summer, one of which has to do with his aforementioned contract status as if the Vancouver Canucks aren't able to re-sign him, then they'll want to move him to at least recoup an asset or two.

The other two big reasons are Vancouver's depth between the pipes, with Arturs Silovs having an unbelievable run in the Calder Cup Playoffs where he's sporting a 1.74 goals against average, a .937 save percentage and four shutouts, meanwhile Finnish netminder Kevin Lankinen is signed a five-year extension back in February.

All of those reasons combined means that there's a good chance Thatcher Demko could be on the move this summer and if the Vancouver Canucks were to officially place him on the trade block, which teams could be interested?

In a recent article on The Canuck Way, Jonathan Bailey took a look at three potential landing spots for Thatcher Demko, if Patrik Allvin were to move on from the former Vezina Trophy finalist.

The first team Bailey suggests, which was also mentioned by Frank Seravalli, is the Philadelphia Flyers, where Thatcher Demko could reunite with his former Head Coach in Vancouver, Rick Tocchet.

Bailey also mentions the New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens as teams that could potentially be interested in Thatcher Demko this summer.

For the New Jersey Devils, Bailey cites the fact that Jake Allen is a pending unrestricted free agent and could hit the open market on Canada Day, while Jacob Markstrom, Demko's former goaltending partner in Vancouver, missed time this season with a knee issue and it's unclear if he'll be able to handle the starting reigns by himself next season.

When it comes to the Montreal Canadiens, they seem like a longshot to land Thatcher Demko because they're pretty comfortable with where they're at regarding their goaltending situation.

With Samuel Montembeault as their starter, Cayden Primeau having a bit of a resurgence this season in the American Hockey League, and two solid goaltending prospects in Jacob Fowler and Jakub Dobes, it doesn't look like Montreal will be in the market for any help between the pipes this summer.

Thatcher Demko is going to garner plenty of interest this summer on the NHL's trade market, there's no doubt about that, and it'll be interesting to see if General Manager Patrik Allvin receives any offers that are worth considering or if he holds onto the San Diego, California native until the deadline.

Source: Jonathan Bailey/The Canuck Way
3 Vancouver Canucks trade destinations for Thatcher Demko