VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks are aiming to have Thatcher Demko back before the start of 2027, co-president of hockey operations Henrik Sedin said on Monday.
Demko, who in the past has been the Canucks’ No. 1 goalie, is trying to work his way back from hip surgery in January.
“He won't be ready early on, but our goal is to get him get him back before Christmas,” Sedin told the “Halford and Brough" show.
“There's no timeline for that, but he's taking steps every day. He's got a great attitude, and we want to we want to make sure that he's 100 percent before he comes back, and that's been our mindset from Day 1.”
The 30-year-old was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the League’s best goalie in 2023-24 but missed the end of that season and all but one game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with knee injuries and has only played 43 games in two seasons since. Demko was 8-10-1 with a 2.90 goals-against average, an .897 save percentage and one shutout in 20 games last season before being shut down after his last start on Jan. 10 to have surgery he later called a “drastic measure.”
A second-round pick (No. 36) in the 2014 NHL Draft, Demko is 134-99-21 with a 2.81 GAA, .909 save percentage and 10 shutouts in 262 games (256 starts), all with the Canucks.
The hope remains the surgery will help end the consistent lower-body and back injuries that have plagued Demko over the past two seasons, something he addressed with the media shortly after last season ended.
“The last two years, I was playing with zero degrees of internal rotation in my hip,” Demko said on April 17. “So, everything above and below is going to take the hit. It’s the back, it’s the knees, the groin -- everything is trying to do too much work.”
Demko stayed in Vancouver during the offseason to rehab but has not spoken with the media since.
Canucks management and coaches consistently stressed they don’t have a timeline for his return, even after claiming goalie Leevi Merilainen off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Friday to back up Kevin Lankinen.
“It sounds like a broken record, but we just are taking the correct steps with Thatcher to do this once and one time only, so I keep saying the lack of timeline,” general manager Ryan Johnson said Friday. “When you start putting timelines and then you're trying to hold yourself to it, especially Thatcher in his own mind, we're just working step by step, doing it the right way where everybody's comfortable with it. And if it takes longer than expected or weeks more than we anticipate, if we're doing it right, we feel really comfortable about it.”
Merilainen is expected to join the Canucks for practice Monday. The 24-year-old should get plenty of opportunities to show he’s ready to stick in the NHL after mixed results the past two seasons with the Senators.
Lankinen is expected to start Vancouver’s season opener at the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SN) and again when the Canucks host the on Thursday. But back-to-back games follow against the Calgary Flames on Saturday and Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.
Merilainen was 8-10-1 with a 3.51 GAA and an .860 save percentage in 20 games (19 starts) for Ottawa last season. Selected by the Senators in the third round (No. 71) of the 2020 NHL Draft, he is 16-14-3 with a 3.00 GAA, an .885 save percentage and three shutouts in 34 NHL games (32 starts).
