This one is a weird one. What is Thatcher Demko’s value? He was, at one point, one of the best young goalies in the game. Now, he’s an injury-prone mess. On top of that, the Devils are reportedly one of the few teams even asking about goalies this trade deadline season. The Canucks don’t have to trade Demko since they don’t really have anything else who can take over in net. However, that’s why this trade might make sense.
The Devils have reportedly been shopping Mackenzie Blackwood. He looked good since his return from injury. He was actually great against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night. Are these performances going to help build a trade value for him?
The big issue with this trade is it blocks both Nico Daws and Akira Schmid from making the NHL (barring injury) for two years after this one. Schmid looked like he was NHL-ready earlier this season, but we’ve seen how finicky goalies can be.
The Canucks will add an AHL player in Tristan Nielsen, and the Devils will add a second-round pick in the NHL Draft. It seems like the most unlikely trade, but a Demko trade is still possible.