The Vancouver Canucks suffered another blow to an already awful season on Tuesday. The club confirmed the fate of their starting goaltender, Thatcher Demko, through an official press release.
Canucks GM Patrik Allvin confirmed that Demko will miss the remainder of this season due to hip surgery. This new surgery has no apparent relation to the knee surgery that caused Demko to miss most of last season.
This year, Demko was supposedly fully healthy, playing fantastically well before going down for good. Between Demko and Kevin Lankinen’s solid play, the Canucks entertained playoff hopes. But a rash of insane injuries and inconsistent play derailed the team’s season. Mired at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, Vancouver raised the white flag on the year.
That’s why the news of Demko’s surgery seems like a fitting plot twist to what has been an extremely frustrating year. In his absence, the Canucks will roll with Kevin Lankinen as their starting goalie.
Demko is in the final year of his current contract. Next season, his three-year extension will kick in. Said extension carries an $8.5 million cap hit. While there is no official prognosis on Demko’s latest surgery, the expectation is that he will be back in time for training camp next fall.
The hope will be that this new surgery could help correct any lingering issues afflicting the 30-year-old’s ability to remain on the ice.
Demko Contract Extension Already Aging Badly
Demko’s three-year contract extension hasn’t even begun, and it’s already aging badly. The deal was widely scrutinized at the time, given Demko’s checkered health history. The deal will go under the microscope even more now amid the latest news.
Unfortunately for the Canucks, Demko’s latest surgery issues would make his contract immovable should they attempt to trade him. While such a fate is far too soon to contemplate, there’s always the risk that the Demko may miss the entire year next season.
San Jose Sharks’ goalie Laurent Brossoit could be an unfortunate precedent. The Chicago Blackhawks signed the veteran netminder ahead of the 2024-25 season. However, he underwent hip surgery, missing the entire 2024-25 season. He didn’t come back on the ice until January of this year.
Ultimately, Brossoit missed nearly two years trying to recover from his hip surgery. While it’s unclear whether Demko’s surgery is comparable to Brossoit’s in any way, history isn’t on the Canucks’ side.
Canucks May Want to Look into Goalie Options for Next Season
Lankinen proved he could be a reliable starting goaltender last season. In that regard, the Canucks shouldn’t sweat it. He’s under contract until 2030, so that’s that.
However, the Canucks may want to explore the market for a solid backup goaltender who could help Lankinen shoulder the load moving forward. That situation may become especially important if Demko could miss a chunk of time similar to the one that Brossoit missed.
At the end of the day, the Canucks have not signaled any loss of faith in Demko. But there may come a point at which Vancouver will have to face reality and assess its options.
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