One of the keys for the Canucks this season was staying healthy; if they have hopes of making the playoffs, they have to squeeze as much out of their roster as they can, which means long-term injuries could cause some major issues.
They’re already in trouble.
Alex Edler is out 4-6 weeks. Loui Eriksson is gone for an undetermined chunk of time. Brendan Gaunce is likely still out for another week. And you can now add Troy Stecher to the list, as he left Sunday’s game against the Red Wings with what appeared to be a very painful knee injury.
That means the Canucks are missing both a left and a right-side defenceman and will be dipping into their depth. Derrick Pouliot has played well in Edler’s absence, but can the Canucks handle a lengthy stretch with Alex BIega on the blue line?
With Stecher’s injury, the Canucks have called up Patrick Wiercioch from Utica again. He’s a left-shooting defenceman who has experience playing on the right side, so he gives the Canucks some flexibility. What’s strange is who else they called up.
Thatcher Demko.
Unless Demko is suddenly transitioning to defence, this is an odd move. But it makes sense thanks to one of the oddities of the CBA around the long-term injury reserve. Essentially, the Canucks need to get as close to the upper bounds of the salary cap in order to maximize their use of LTIR.
Look, it’s complicated. CapFriendly explains it all here.
Rick Dhaliwal reports that the call-up will be for just one day, but that Demko will indeed fly to Minnesota and skate with the Canucks on Tuesday. The one-day call-up means that Demko will get an NHL paycheque for that day, based off of his $925,000 NHL salary rather than his $70,000 AHL salary.
That’s a nice little financial bonus for Demko, who is off to a fantastic start for the Utica Comets. In his four starts, Demko has allowed just five goals against. He has a sterling .960 save percentage, including a 33-save shutout and a 40-save performance on opening night.
Of the goaltenders in the AHL who have played in four games, Demko leads the way in save percentage and goals against average. He’s fifth in both categories if you include goaltenders who have played fewer games.
Despite that hot start, Demko is unlikely to get called up this season unless one of Anders Nilsson or Jacob Markstrom gets injured. This brief call-up represents one of the few ways the Canucks can reward Demko financially for his play. Since the Comets don’t play again until Saturday, he won’t miss any playing time and the call-up shouldn’t disrupt his rhythm.
The Canucks could have called up a few other players with the same cap hit as Demko to get the same benefit; they chose to go with Demko. It’s a nice message to Demko letting him know that they see what he’s doing in Utica.
