The biggest question mark hanging over the Vancouver Canucks heading into the 2024-25 season is the status of Thatcher Demko. The Canucks’ All-Star goaltender finished second in Vezina voting last season. He’s a game-changer for the Canucks, capable of putting the team on his back and stealing games, and he’s essential to their hopes of winning the Stanley Cup.
But Demko’s playoffs this past season came to an abrupt halt after he suffered a knee injury in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Nashville Predators. That knee injury — since revealed to be an injury to the popliteus muscle — proved stranger and more difficult to assess than anyone anticipated. In researching the injury, Demko and his medical team couldn’t find any other hockey players who had dealt with it before, making it difficult to not only find the right way to treat the injury but also to know how long it would take to recover.
While it initially seemed like there was a chance Demko could be ready for the start of the regular season, Demko didn’t want to give a potential target date for his return when he spoke to the media ahead of training camp, saying, “I’m not going to sit here and give you a timeline because it might create some problems for me.” Instead of aiming for a specific date, Demko is focused on making sure he’s fully healthy before he returns, however long that takes. According to reports on Monday, that might be longer than first thought.
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