Trophy Tracker: Demko early leader for Vezina as top goalie

To mark the first quarter of the 2023-24 regular season, NHL.com is running its first installment of the Trophy Tracker series. Today, we look at the race for the Vezina Trophy, awarded annually to the goalie voted to be the best in the League by NHL general managers.

The Vancouver Canucks have the best offense in the NHL and three players (Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson) rank among the top 10 in scoring.

They have drawn a giant amount of attention this season but know their most important player is goalie Thatcher Demko.

"He's our best player and he's going to have to be for the whole year for us," Hughes said.

Demko certainly has played like a star and is the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy, according to a panel of 16 NHL.com writers. He received 73 points in the poll, including 10 first-place votes.

Cam Talbot of the Los Angeles Kings was second with 45 points (three first-place votes) followed by Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars (39 points, one first-place vote), Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights (31 points, one first-place vote) and Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins (25 points, one first-place vote).

Demko is 11-5-0 with a 2.10 goals-against average, .928 save percentage and two shutouts in 16 games. Among goalies to play at least 10 games, he's third in the NHL in GAA, tied for second in save percentage, and tied for first with a .934 even-strength save percentage.

"He is the total package," goalie partner Casey DeSmith said. "Size (6-foot-4, 192 pounds), flexibility, quality movement, technique, competitiveness. He's got everything. You name it, he's got it, and that's pretty tough to say about a lot of goalies in this league, I feel like. ... His size, quickness, flexibility, he has it all in spades and then he's got the work ethic to go with it. And when you put that all together, behind a team that's been playing pretty well, it's scary what he's capable of."

Demko's strong play is a carryover from last season, when he returned Feb. 27 after missing three months with a lower-body injury. In 17 games, he went 11-4-2 with a 2.52 GAA, .918 save percentage and one shutout.

He's kept it rolling into this season, but more than that is the mature approach the 27-year-old has in his seventh NHL season, and the way it's allowed his teammates to do their jobs without concern if they turn a puck over.

"Thatcher is incredibly mature, he's incredibly stoic in his approach, he's very confident in himself and he's very determined to be successful individually and as a team," Vancouver defenseman Ian Cole said. "You put all those together in a recipe, along with all the physical attributes of being tall and long and athletic and big and strong and quick, and I know it's going down the checklist, but he's got it all. I think the coolest thing about it is, acknowledging how great he's been this first quarter of the season, how focused he is and how unwavering he is in his approach to the game and his approach to himself. His ability to park a goal or park a game, move on and keep going and then have that next big save. It's always that next save.

"I think everyone in here has a ton of confidence and faith in him that, hey, if we can do our job in limiting quality chances and taking away backdoors and taking away the things that are nearly impossible for a goalie to save, he'll make all the other saves."

Coach Rick Tocchet called Demko a "business-like guy," and that has allowed the Canucks to see a top-three finish in the Pacific Division as a possibility after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past three seasons.

"His game is very quiet, which I love," Tocchet said. "He's not all over the map. Our team, we take that personality of him. He doesn't get rattled either. There might be a goal, but he doesn't let it rattle him. I feel that his demeanor is a big part of our team. When we see him, the way he acts, it's business. He's a business-like guy and I love that. You see him crack a smile once in a while, but even after shutout it's tough to get him to a crack a smile. 

"He's just a business-like type of guy. I love the kid and obviously he's a hell of a goalie."

Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis): Thatcher Demko, Canucks, 73 points (10 first-place votes); Cam Talbot, Kings, 45 (3 first-place votes); Jake Oettinger, Stars, 39 (1 first-place vote); Adin Hill, Golden Knights, 31 (1 first-place vote); Jeremy Swayman, Bruins, 25 (1 first-place vote); Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues, 10; John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks, 7; Linus Ullmark, Bruins, 5; Carter Hart, Philadelphia Flyers, 2; Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins, 2; Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers, 1

NHL.com independent correspondent Kevin Woodley contributed to this report