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NHL Announces 2024 Norris Trophy Finalists

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The Canucks’ Quinn Hughes, the Predators’ Roman Josi and the Avalanche’s Cale Makar are this year’s Norris Trophy finalists for the league’s top defenseman, as announced today. Technically awarded “to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position,” the Norris, like many others, is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association after the regular season concludes.

Hughes, 24, isn’t just a finalist for the first time – he’s the first Canucks defenseman in franchise history to be named one. He has earned consideration in three of the past four seasons, placing 15th in voting in 2020, 13th in 2022, and ninth in 2023.

The 2018 seventh-overall pick is coming off a franchise-defining season, logging a Vancouver-record 75 assists and 92 points in 82 games that also led defenders league-wide. A first-year captain, Hughes averaged 24:41 per game, tying him for tenth in the league with Penguins blue-liner Kris Letang, and led all NHL defensemen with 54 even-strength points. He also had the most dominant possession season of his career, with Vancouver controlling 57.5% of shot attempts and 54.3% of expected goals with Hughes on the ice at even strength, per Hockey Reference.

Josi, 33, finished third among defensemen in points with 85 in 82 games but led outright in goals with 23. This is his third time being a finalist for the award, winning back in 2020 and finishing second to Makar in 2022. He’s now cracked the point-per-game plateau twice in the past three years and took the most shots of any blue-liner this season with 268, ahead of the Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin by more than 30. Like Hughes, he’s coming off the best possession season of his career, posting a 54.5 CF%, 5.1 relative CF%, and a 53.8 xGF% at even strength.

Makar, 25, led defenders in points per game this season but missed five games due to injury, placing him second in points behind Hughes with 90 in 77 games. It’s his fourth straight season as a finalist for the award, but compared to his peers mentioned here, may have the worst case for satisfying the “all-around ability” stipulation this season.

He had a quietly average season at even strength by his standards, getting a higher share of his point production on the power play compared to Hughes and Josi. His possession numbers weren’t all that different from Colorado’s averages, either. His 53.0 CF% at even strength was his lowest since his rookie season, and his 0.3 relative CF% was a career-low outright. That led Colorado to reassign some of his 5-on-5 minutes elsewhere – his overall average ice time dropped from 26:23 in 2022-23 to 24:46 this season without any significant changes in his usage on special teams.

The league hasn’t yet announced the date when award winners will be revealed.

DeSmith Has Lower-Body Injury, Could Backup Tonight

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Former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Kasper Bjorkqvist has signed with Ilves in Finland’s Liiga (according to Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports). The 26-year-old has spent the past two seasons in Finland after spending parts of three years in the Penguins organization where he largely played in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Bjorkqvist was the Penguins’ second-round pick in 2016 (61st overall) but was never able to find his offensive game as a professional in North America tallying just 10 goals and four assists in 65 career AHL games. He was able to get into six NHL games during the 2021-22 season, posting a single goal. Since returning to Finland two years ago to play with Kärpät, Bjorkqvist has dressed in 82 games tallying nine goals and 14 assists.

While he will remain in Finland in the near future, Bjorkqvist’s NHL rights will remain with the Penguins.

In other evening notes:

  • Vancouver Canucks play-by-play voice Brendan Batchelor tweeted that Canucks goaltender Casey DeSmith has a lower-body injury but should be good to backup for the Canucks tonight when they try to end their first-round series against the Nashville Predators. DeSmith practiced with the Canucks this morning, but it appeared in the game day skate that Artūrs Šilovs would be the starting goalie for Game 5. There is a possibility that DeSmith could start tonight, but Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet stopped short of announcing his starting goalie.
  • Colorado Avalanche prospect Zakhar Bardakov has reportedly signed a one-year extension with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. The 23-year-old was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL entry draft (203rd overall) and has yet to sign an ELC with the Avalanche after he was traded on March 1st of this year along with a seventh-round pick in exchange for Kurtis MacDermid. While Bardakov has signed in the KHL for another season, he could come to North America in 2025. Bardakov posted six goals and six assists in 51 regular season games last season with SKA.

NHL Announces 2024 Vezina Trophy Finalists

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The NHL has revealed the finalists for the 2024 Vezina Trophy, awarded each year to the top player at the goaltending position. Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark took home the award last year, after backing a historically-strong Bruins season.

This year’s finalists are the Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck, the Florida Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky, and Vancouver Canucks’ Thatcher Demko.

Hellebuyck likely leads the pack, after vindicating his six-year extension signed last summer by leading all goalies with 30 or more appearances in save percentage. Hellebuyck posted 37 wins and a .921 save percentage in 60 starts this season, already winning the William M. Jennings Trophy alongside batterymate Laurent Brossoit for the highest save percentage from a goaltending tandem. It was Hellebuyck’s highest save percentage since the 2017-18 season when he posted a .924 in 67 appearances. Hellebuyck finished second in Vezina voting that season, and went on to win the award following the 2019-20 season. He’d become the fifth netminder to win the award multiple times since 2000, should he take home hardware this summer.

Hellebuyck would join a list of repeat winners that already contains Sergei Bobrovsky, who won the award in the 2013 and 2017 season, both with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Bobrovsky could be on track to hear his name once again, following a smash year with the Florida Panthers that saw him post 36 wins and a .915 save percentage in 58 games. While Bobrovsky’s time in Florida hasn’t always gone smoothly, he seemed to rediscover his groove this season, looking dialed-in from the start to the end. He’s now poised to stamp his place in history, with the potential to become just the third goalie since 2000 to win the award three-or-more times. He’d join legendary goaltenders Dominik Hasek and Martin Brodeur in the accolade, should he win.

And while Hellebuyck and Bobrovsky have strong cases to return to the podium, Thatcher Demko could be poised to squash their reunion and becoming the 11th-different player to win the award in as many years. Demko was a cornerstone piece of Vancouver’s surprising run to the top of the standings, posting 37 wins and a .918 save percentage in 51 games. Demko missed 14 games with a knee injury near the end of the regular season, limiting his chance to put a bow on his standout season, but his performances aren’t going unrecognized, with this being his first time as a Vezina finalist.

The award will be announced at the NHL Awards this summer. That event is still pending a time and location.

Casey DeSmith Dressed As Emergency Backup For Game 4

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Casey DeSmith isn’t on the game roster for Canucks in today’s Game 4 against the Predators, forcing Vancouver to turn to third-string Arturs Silovs for his first playoff start with Thatcher Demko already hurt. It doesn’t appear the Canucks expect DeSmith out for long, however, as he was only termed day-to-day with a lower-body injury. There was further evidence to the fact shortly after the game started, as The Athletic’s Thomas Drance reports DeSmith was still the Canucks’ designated emergency backup for today’s game.

Canucks Without Casey DeSmith For Game 4, Arturs Silovs Starts

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Just one week into the postseason, the Canucks are down to their third-string goalie. Latvian rookie Arturs Silovs is expected to start Game 4 against the Predators this afternoon after Casey DeSmith sustained an undisclosed injury in Friday’s Game 3 win, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.

DeSmith’s injury occurred late in Game 3 and is unrelated to the hit he took from Predators center Michael McCarron in the first period that resulted in a minor penalty and a fine for the latter. He’s listed as day-to-day and remains an option for Game 5 on Tuesday, per Seravalli. Vancouver will dress 24-year-old Belarusian netminder Nikita Tolopilo from AHL Abbotsford to backup Silovs today – he was rostered under emergency conditions earlier in the week.

Vancouver is already without starter and likely Vezina Trophy nominee Thatcher Demko, thanks to a suspected knee injury in Game 1. He’s listed as week-to-week, and there’s no consensus on when he may become available.

DeSmith did well under unexpected pressure, stopping 41 of the 45 shots he faced for a .911 SV% and 2.02 GAA. He made 29 saves on 30 shots to buoy the Canucks in Game 3, who won 2-1 despite only getting 12 shots through to Preds netminder Juuse Saros. The 32-year-old had only one playoff start entering Game 2 of this series, coming in 2022 with the Penguins in Game 1 of their first-round loss to the Rangers. He stopped 48 of 51 shots faced before leaving due to injury in the first overtime – Pittsburgh eventually won 4-3 in 3OT with backup Louis Domingue stopping all 17 Rangers shots he faced.

The Canucks now turn to Silovs, who spent most of the year with Abbotsford but made four starts down the stretch while Demko missed multiple weeks with an unrelated knee injury. Vancouver went 3-0-1 in games Silovs started, but the 23-year-old didn’t post the prettiest numbers, logging a .881 SV%. Shot quality data points to that being an artificially low number, though, as the Canucks didn’t give him much help defensively – Silovs saved exactly as many goals as expected, per MoneyPuck. The 2019 sixth-round pick had a .907 SV%, 2.74 GAA and four shutouts in 34 showings for Abbotsford this year, compiling a 16-11-6 record.

While inexperienced at the NHL level, Silovs is no stranger to performing well in big moments. He had a strong .914 SV% in two postseason games for Abbotsford last year and has been exceptional on the international stage, logging a .929 SV% and 1.96 GAA in 14 appearances for Latvia at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. He was named the MVP of last year’s tournament, backstopping his country to a bronze medal – their first ever at the event.

Backing up Silovs is Tolopilo, an undrafted free-agent pickup last summer out of the second tier of Swedish pro hockey. He’s had similar numbers to Silovs with Abbotsford this year, earning a .905 SV% and 2.83 GAA in 35 appearances.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Canucks Remain Uncertain About Demko's Return Timeline

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To say there has been a lot of speculation about Thatcher Demko’s injury would be a considerable understatement.  After playing the series opener against Nashville, Demko was ruled as out day-to-day and then week-to-week soon after, fueling plenty of theories about the nature of the injury.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the best way to qualify this injury is that it’s a unique one.  The Canucks are hopeful that it’s not as bad as they initially feared and it might not be something that surgery can ultimately fix.  Accordingly, they don’t have an idea of the true timeframe for a return other than he’s not going to be back within the next week or two.

Pacific Notes: Boeser, Demko, Kraken

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Harman Dayal of The Athletic tweeted that Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet downplayed Brock Boeser’s early exit from practice today. Boeser had left the ice after taking a shot up high on the wrist during a powerplay drill. Tocchet said that Boeser was fine as far as he knew and added that Boeser hadn’t said anything about a potential ailment.

The Canucks are already dealing with a significant injury with goaltender Thatcher Demko out of the lineup and can ill afford to lose more key pieces from their team. Boeser has just one assist through the first two games of round 1 but is coming off a career year having posted 40 goals and 33 assists in 81 regular season games.

In other Pacific Division notes:

  • Speaking of Demko, the netminder travelled with the Canucks to Nashville (according to SportsNet’s Dan Murphy). Although he made the trip, there doesn’t appear to be any change to his status as he remains week-to-week. Patrick Johnston of Postmedia writes that his sources tell him that Demko wouldn’t be able to return from injury until the Conference Finals, while Donnie & Dhali of CHEK TV believe he could return late in round 2 if the Canucks can survive until then.
  • The Seattle Kraken announced a new partnership today that will see their local broadcasts shift from ROOT Sports over to TEGNA-owned stations KONG as well as KING 5. KONG will broadcast all non-nationally televised Kraken games while KING 5 will simulcast 15 games as well. The deal effectively ends the Kraken’s relationship with ROOT Sports, who had broadcast Seattle games for their first three seasons. In addition to the new local television deal, the Kraken will also see all non-nationally televised games broadcast on Amazon Prime Video for people in Washington State, Oregon, and Alaska at no extra cost. Seattle becomes the first NHL team to strike a deal with Prime and could become a model for other franchises going forward.

Thatcher Demko To Miss Game 2, Potentially Out For Series

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In a report coming from Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff, Vancouver Canucks’ starting goaltender Thatcher Demko is set to miss Game 2 of the team’s First Round series against the Nashville Predators, and could potentially miss the rest of the series. For tonight’s game and possibly further, the Canucks will rely on Casey DeSmith and Arturs Silovs in the crease.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman quickly confirmed Seravalli’s report and indicated that Demko is out with an injury. Without any specifics to the injury, it could potentially be a re-aggravation of the lower-body injury that kept Demko out of Vancouver’s lineup from March 9th to April 16th.

In Demko’s absence towards the last month of the regular season, the Canucks produced a 7-5-2 record, earning a 2.86 goals against average and a .884 save percentage. In Sunday night’s game against the Predators, Demko played in all 60 minutes of game one, saving 20 of 22 shots on goal.

Now that DeSmith is the likely starter heading into Game 2, Vancouver will deploy a goalie that produced a 12-9-6 record this season over 27 starts, securing a 2.89 GAA and a .895 SV%. Much like Demko, DeSmith has limited playoff experience, as his only postseason appearance came two years ago with the Pittsburgh Penguins, earning an overtime win against the New York Rangers after stopping 48 of 51 shots.

Heading into the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Canucks had the second-highest odds of being the last team left standing according to MoneyPuck. Unfortunately, without one of the top goaltenders in the league between the pipes, Vancouver’s odds have certainly lowered.

In a positive outlook for the Canucks, recent history is on their side, as both Conference Champions from last year’s playoffs started the postseason with different goalies than they started with, while the Colorado Avalanche had to utilize then-backup goalie Pavel Francouz in their pursuit of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals. If the Canucks have any hopes of making a deep playoff run this postseason, the team in front will have their work cut out for them moving forward.

Canucks Prospect Lukas Jasek Signs Two-Year Deal With SHL's Modo

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The Canucks still hold the exclusive signing rights of Czech winger Lukas Jasek, but he won’t be returning to the organization next season. He’s signed a two-year contract with Modo Hockey of the Swedish Hockey League (translated team release link).

Jasek, 26, was a sixth-round pick of the Canucks in 2015 and spent the following three seasons in the Czech Extraliga before signing his entry-level contract and joining their AHL affiliate, then the Utica Comets, in 2018. He played in parts of four seasons for the Comets, putting up overall decent numbers with 86 points (30 goals, 56 assists) and a +11 rating in 153 appearances, but didn’t get an NHL call-up during that time.

Jasek had 28 points in 49 games but couldn’t help them avoid relegation to the HockeyAllsvenskan, but he’ll stay in the top tier of the Swedish system next season with Örnsköldsvik’s MoDo. The Canucks must sign him before July 1, 2025, and buy him out of the second year of his new deal with MoDo, or he’ll become an unrestricted free agent.

  • One of the Flames’ top defense prospects, Hunter Brzustewicz, will finish 2023-24 on an ATO with AHL Calgary, the minor-league club announced. Brzustewicz, 19, was a third-round pick of the Canucks last year but had his signing rights dealt to Calgary in the Elias Lindholm trade. He inked his entry-level deal back in March and, given his November birthday, will be eligible to suit up full-time with the Wranglers next season. He finished the year with 92 points in 67 games for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.

Canucks Recall Arturs Silovs

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The Canucks have recalled netminder Arturs Silovs from AHL Abbotsford, per a team announcement. He’ll serve as the club’s emergency backup (EBUG) for tonight’s Game 1 of their first-round series against the Predators.

Unlike regular-season contests, there’s no designated amateur EBUG in the arena for postseason games. As such, teams are allowed to insert a third contracted netminder into the game if both their starter and backup leave with injuries, even if they were listed as a scratch on the roster report.

Silovs, 23, has spent most of the season on assignment to the minors. He’s had a strong campaign after backstopping Latvia to a bronze medal and being named the tournament’s best goaltender at the 2023 World Championship, recording a .907 SV%, 2.74 GAA and four shutouts in 34 games with Abbotsford.

The 2019 sixth-round pick saw some brief NHL action down the stretch with Thatcher Demko sidelined due to a lower-body injury. While he routinely backed up Casey DeSmith, who saw the majority of the starts in Demko’s absence, Silovs made four starts. His numbers weren’t impressive, logging a .881 SV% and 2.47 GAA, but those reflect some poor defensive efforts in front of him. He saved exactly as many goals as expected, per MoneyPuck, and Vancouver recorded a point in all four of his appearances (3-0-1).

Including five starts last season, Silovs has a .898 SV%, 2.62 GAA, and a 6-2-1 record in his brief NHL career. He won’t see any postseason action for the Canucks unless disaster strikes, but with DeSmith set to be a UFA this summer, Silovs will be in contention for a full-time backup job next season. He needs a new contract, too – his entry-level deal expires in a few months, and he’s set to be an RFA.

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