Players are starting to return from injury, with both Thatcher Demko and Elias Pettersson the Forward returning against the Sharks. Nils Höglander is back, if currently in the press box, and Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger are skating with the team. Derek Forbort remains the World's Greatest Mystery with no return date listed, but he's not moving any needles.

Arguably, the worst part of having so many injuries right now is that the classic "this guy's getting traded" veterans aren't available. Blueger and Forbort are the mid-to-late draft pick returns that teams out of contention move. But they've each played just two games this season, and no one wants to bring in insurance players who need insurance.

Of all the players who are likely to be traded, will possibly be traded, or are just interesting to think about getting traded, one stands out.

The Difference Maker-ish

Hockey is a game of mistakes. There is a baseline of talent that any team has, but different tactics will help push the needle one way or another. A champion ECHL team is going to be hard-pressed to beat the worst NHL team, and for good reason. But when talent is generally of a level, how the team approaches a game will make a difference.

Make fewer mistakes than your opponents, decrease your chance of losing. But take more risks, increase your chance of forcing your opponents into mistakes. They make more mistakes, you increase your team's chance of winning. However, there is one position that can change everything, and it's the one that's on the ice for the entire game.

It's not like Vancouver hasn't been here before. When Roberto Luongo left after the 2013-14 season, responsibility for the team fell to Eddie Lack and new arrival Ryan Miller. Miller did what he could for three seasons, but mostly what he did was provide false hope. No one is interested in reliving the Canucks' accidental rebuild years, thanks.

But in that, there is some hope for the folks pitching a rebuild. As good as Miller was, the team only reached the playoffs in his first year. Now, we all love us some Brock Boeser, but maybe they could have had Mathew Barzal, or Kyle Connor, or Mikko Rantanen instead of a first-round exit against the Flames.

But that was just one year, and one in which Henrik and Daniel Sedin were 70+ point players. The other two? Both fifth place in the draft, but only because the lottery put them there, dropping them from second and third in consecutive years. The team was still as bad as it could be.

Whaddya Do With A Thatcher Demko?

Demko has negotiated a new deal, as we all know. While the amount is high, the term is quite low. Exactly the opposite of what you would hope to get with a high-talent, high-injury-risk player, but it's what we have. His $8.5 million per for three seasons includes a full no move clause, but doesn't start until 2026-27. The opportunity to move him to any destination is now. Should they?

Move Him On

Even the best skaters in the league rarely cross the 30-minute mark. This season, the desperate Canucks dressed Quinn Hughes for everything, resulting him him being the league's minutes played leader. Even then, he still averages just* 27:30 per game.

No, the one who can really screw up as high a draft pick as Vancouver can get is Thatcher Demko. Even in his game after the break against the San Jose Sharks, shaky though the team was, he made some excellent stops. He's the guy on the team who can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat - and he doesn't even have to do it that often. If he pulls in, say, three wins that Vancouver doesn't deserve, that's six points.

You know what six points is right now? Moving up nine places in the standings. NINE! That's battling with Utah and San Jose for the final wild card spot, and it's hard to say Vancouver's better than either of them. Some typical Canuck luck in the lottery, and the team drops out of a top-ten spot in the entry draft.

Add to that the possibility of saving $8.5 million. Kevin Lankinen is a solid goaltender with a decent floor, even if his ceiling isn't at Demko's heights. He has a five-year deal at $4.5 million, and his no-move clause has already kicked in. Behind him, the Canucks look like they favour Nikita Tolopilo rather than veteran Jiri Patera, and that's fine. The team won't rely on either to lead them to the playoffs when the time comes, unless a miracle happens.

More likely they hope one of Ty Young, Aku Koskenvuo, or Alexei Medvedev with take the ring in four or five years. Or it may be none of them, but a player nowhere in the system. A goalie's progress is a mysterious thing.

Which should make Demko a very tempting target. Yes, his health is unpredictable. But when he's on, there are very few in the world who can match him.

Keep the Keeper

On the other hand, it's not like Demko will play every game from here on in. With 45 games to go - including tonight against Seattle - he might play 30? As many as 35, tops, unless the coach has been told this is his last year. And who would be crazy enough to do that in December?

Say he collects 40 points out of those 30 games. That's a pretty good record, and well within the realm of possibility. If Lankinen has the other 15 games and gets 15 points from them, that's 45 points total, leaving the team at 78 points by season's end. And those projections are well above the pace for both goaltenders. If they both continue current trands, then we're talking mid-60s.

Heck, just look at what's happening in Winnipeg. The Jets, a team with a very good top line and America's starter for the Olympics in net, is one point ahead of Vancouver. A goalie can steal games, sure, but only so many. So, hey! What does it matter? Why NOT move Demko, save some money, and get some upward mobility in the prospect pool?

The short answer is because he's Thatcher Demko.

The long answer is that if the team wants to challenge in two or three years - and it sounds like they do - they aren't going to find another Thatcher Demko by then. Goalies age weirdly, and Demko in his early 30s is probably going to be close to the same Demko we have today. Maybe, maybe one of the kids catches fire early and forces his way onto the team.

If so, is it Demko or Lankinen who should be here to greet them?

*"Just" - as if this amount of exercise wouldn't kill me dead.