Remember When Casey DeSmith Showed Up for the Canucks?
Remember that stretch when the Canucks needed a steady backup goalie, and Casey DeSmith just showed up and did the job? That's probably the best way to remember DeSmith's season in Vancouver.
He arrived in the summer of 2023 after a couple of strange transactions. Pittsburgh traded him to Montreal as part of the Erik Karlsson deal, and then the Canadiens flipped him to Vancouver for Tanner Pearson and a draft pick. DeSmith never played a game for Montreal. Suddenly, there he was in Vancouver, backing up Thatcher Demko. And honestly, he was pretty good.
Casey DeSmith Gave the Canucks Exactly What They Needed.
DeSmith went 12-9-6 in 29 games during the 2023-24 regular season. The numbers weren't spectacular, and nobody was confusing him with an NHL star. But he gave the Canucks something every good team needs from a backup: a chance to win most nights.
Then came the playoffs. When Demko went down, suddenly the backup goalie wasn't just playing the occasional game in November anymore. Rogers Arena was chanting DeSmith's name. He got one of the loudest introductions of his career. And, for a little while, he became one of those guys Canucks fans genuinely wanted to root for.
That's what made his Game 3 performance against Nashville so memorable. The Canucks needed somebody to hold things together, and DeSmith did. Maybe that's the bigger point about his season in Vancouver. DeSmith wasn't remembered for being spectacular. He's remembered because, when the team suddenly needed him, he was there.
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Sometimes, Just Doing the Job Is Enough.
It's a valuable quality when a player shows up, does his job, and sometimes more. It was DeSmith’s only season in Vancouver. He left in free agency and signed with Dallas, where he has continued doing pretty much the same thing behind Jake Oettinger: quietly giving his team reliable goaltending. No drama. No big speeches. Just showing up, playing his games and giving his team a chance.
His path to the NHL makes that pretty fitting. He wasn't a highly drafted goalie who arrived with huge expectations. He worked his way through the ECHL and AHL before finally getting his NHL opportunity at 26. And maybe that's why the Vancouver stretch sticks with people.
For one season, Casey DeSmith became the guy the Canucks needed him to be. Nothing more complicated than that. Sometimes that's enough to be remembered. In this case, it was.