Thatcher Demko
Position: G
Current Team: Boston College, NCAA
Date of Birth: December 8, 1995
Place of Birth: San Diego, California, USA
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 192 lbs
Catches: Left
Now for a little something different. How about a big goaltender with range, quickness and all of the great hockey tradition of . . . wait for it . . . San Diego, California. Yep, Thatcher Demko (a great name for a net-minder) hails from The Golden State, and seems intent upon making a Pacific Ocean-sized splash when he gets his shot at the big time.
Demko was the clear #1 North American goalie in the NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings, and the following aptly summarizes why:
He was so far ahead of the under-aged players last year that if he was draft-eligible in 2013 he would probably have been drafted high; that’s how far he was ahead then and is now. . . . He’s a huge, strong goalie with excellent net coverage. He has that NHL presence in the net. He’s more of a positional style-goalie that relies on his angles and size and he plays big in his stance. . . . When he drops in the butterfly he gets his body in front of a lot of shots. He’s smart at reading the play and gets set quickly; strength is definitely not an issue with him. — Al Jensen, NHL Central Scouting
Jensen specializes in evaluating goaltending talent, so he knows something of what he speaks. That’s awfully lofty praise for a kid who was the youngest net minder in the NCAA last year, yet still notched a very tasty 2.24 GAA and .919 save percentage in 24 games for B.C.
Demko is a butterfly-style goalie, who brings the best of both worlds — the ability to take away the low shot via the butterfly, and the positioning and size to loom large in the net, even when in the ‘fly. With a number of teams desperate for help in the blue paint, look for Demko to possibly rise in the rankings if most of the prime forward talent goes ear
A Good Fit in Columbus?
Probably not, given Bobrovsky’s age, and a string of young talent in the pipeline. It likely depends on who else is available at the #16 slot — assuming Columbus stays there — and how the organization feels about its depth in net. A “draft & trade” would not be out of the question if a goalie-starved team has some assets the club covets. So, while Demko might be tempting, I’m predicting a pass in Columbus.
Demko in Action