Thatcher Demko’s injury recovery is slower than expected.
Recent reports say Demko might miss training camp and exhibition games due to his knee injury. The team hoped he’d be ready for the season, but now they’re not so sure. Rick Dhaliwal and Thomas Drance from The Athletic shared that Vancouver can’t rely on him being fit in time.
Demko got hurt during the first-round playoffs against Nashville. Casey DeSmith and later Arturs Silovs took over as goalies. There was a lot of talk about how long he’d be out—some said one round, others multiple rounds, and some even thought he’d miss all playoffs if the Canucks advanced . Officially, he was listed as week-to-week.
Vancouver’s Goalie Situation:
When free agency started, Vancouver didn’t sign any veteran goalie backups. They planned for Silovs to back up Demko with Jiri Patera in AHL Abbotsford. This showed they believed Demko would recover by the season start.
But now they’re looking at other goalies on the market. Dhaliwal mentioned Kevin Lankinen as their target. Lankinen played for Chicago and Nashville with a 3.07 GAA and .905 SV%. He wouldn’t replace Demko but could share time with Silovs if needed.
Fans might wonder if this is a smart move or just another gamble by management.
This summer saw many changes in Vancouver’s roster: Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, and Ilya Mikheyev left while Jake DeBrusk joined as a key player. Now it seems like they’ll need another new face in goal since Demko’s return might take longer.
What do you think? Will this goalie shuffle work out for them?
