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3 Canucks Stars of the Week: Thatcher Demko is back in full force
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Arielle Lalande
Oct 12, 2025, 17:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 12, 2025, 14:55 EDT
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Welcome back to Stars of the Week at CanucksArmy! Every week, we’ll be bringing you our Top Three best and brightest performers on the Vancouver Canucks that week. Disagree with our picks or have your own stars to nominate? Let us know in the comments below!
It’s another year, another autumn, and another season of Canucks hockey has arrived. If you’re along for season two of 3 Canucks Stars of the Week, welcome back. If you’re new here, welcome aboard.
The burning question that seems to be on everyone’s mind going into this season is “Will the Canucks be better than last year?” If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same question every year, and probably will be forever, ad infinitum.
The short answer is “Hopefully!”. The long answer is “Two regular season games are not exactly a scientifically sound sample size to address this with, there are a lot of variables and quotients to assess, and hey, wait a second, I’m starting to think this study didn’t even get ethics approval.” 
All-and-all, their roster is relatively the same as last year, but newly anointed head coach Adam Foote is the primary litmus test for what this group will look like this year. In their 5-1 home opener against the Calgary Flames, they looked reinvigorated. Granted, the Flames were on the second game of a back-to-back where they took the Oilers to a shootout and promptly showed them the door. The Canucks would have no such luck with Edmonton and dropped their second game of the year, 3-1. They showed flashes of last year’s team – disorganization, inability to generate offence, and wasted a phenomenal performance from Thatcher Demko in net. Am I missing something? Were the currently-sidelined Nils Höglander and Teddy Blueger actually the driving force behind this Canucks team the whole time? 
No, they weren’t. It’s just that it’s the first week of the season. I will not be too quick to say that nothing has changed. They looked great in one game, and resilient in the other, if just a little shaky, making careless mistakes here and there, and failing to convert on their o-zone chances. By resilient, I mean they looked slightly more resilient than they would have been in the past. Again, it’s early. The hockey season is long and full of terrors. 
With only two games of the season thus far, the book of this season has barely been cracked open. Let’s turn the page to that first chapter, shall we?

Thatcher Demko

It only took two games for the team in front of Thatcher Demko to hang him out to dry like it’s laundry day. I sincerely hope he gets apologies for the games where he keeps the team afloat, or some kind of compensation beyond salary – even a Tim Horton’s gift card could even suffice, honestly. 
By the numbers, he put up a .944 SV% in both games, respectively, with 1.1 GAA against Calgary and 2.08. To put it in perspective, he faced a total of 18 shots against Calgary and twice that with 36 against Edmonton. Again, I am not exaggerating when I say it was basically Demko versus the Oilers. 
That said, it’s more than the stats. It’s that he looks like himself again, playing with an outward confidence that has waxed and waned ever since his knee injury during the 2024 Playoffs. Take these two saves alone. There’s no trepidation here, especially with lateral movement. 
Thatcher Demko has always had that dog in him, and that dog has now returned from the vet with his booster shots and a clean bill of health. 
Demko has a big year in front of him. He’s got nothing to prove to Vancouver fans, but to the rest of the league, re-establishing himself as an elite Vezina-calibre goalie after receiving the “chronically injured” label is essential. He was not named to the preliminary Team USA Olympic roster longlist, nor invited to their orientation camp this past summer, which I think is an oversight. 

Brock Boeser

Where we last left off in the spring, I was convinced that Brock Boeser had played his final game as a Vancouver Canuck. Most Canucks fans were convinced Boeser was moving on, Brock Boeser himself was convinced he was moving on, and if the squirrels in Stanley Park could talk, even they probably would have been convinced that Boeser was moving on. 
Well, to quote Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way.” 
Or, rather, “Life is when a player takes a significant discount to stay with the team that drafted him instead of getting his full market value elsewhere.” That’s not nearly as quotable as the movie, but I’ll take it. Boeser signed a 7x$7.25 million deal at the eleventh hour on July 1st to stay a Canuck.
There’s nothing that will appease a fanbase more than a homecoming narrative, and he didn’t even really have to leave first. Boeser has been ringing in Brocktober well, with a goal in each game so far, and the lone goal in the team’s lacklustre showing on Saturday night. 
With his future with the team secure and an emotional re-commitment on both ends, of sorts, this is going to be an interesting year for Boeser and his role in Vancouver’s leadership core. Take his showing on the penalty kill this week – rare territory for a goal-scorer like Boeser. With Teddy Blueger injured and Pius Suter no longer with the team, the penalty kill units are not exactly in their final form for the year, but Boeser stepped up when asked. It’s out of necessity, but it’s also a sign of trust on either side. 
As much as players say that they’re just “Focusing on their game” when their contract status is hanging in the balance, that’s one of those little white lies we all know aren’t true but all agree to play along with, much like “I’m on my way right now!” text or the Tooth Fairy. It’s impossible not to be distracted by negotiations with a front office, or lack thereof, and the attention that comes with it. I’m looking forward to a distraction-free season from Boeser. 
Needless to say, I’m grateful that I still get to name Brock Boeser a Canuck Star of the week. It’s not over until it’s over.  

Quinn Hughes

Another season of 3 Stars means another season of being very selective with handing out stars to Quinn Hughes. It’s no secret that he’s in a star category of his own, unless you’re an East Coaster who doesn’t stay up for Pacific games, or Erik Johnson, I guess.
Erik Johnson
Erik Johnson
@6ErikJohnson
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I’ve had a bunch of people ask me about this. Both have completely broken my ankles multiple times & made me look silly (as have many others). I love Quinn Hughes, he is absolutely awesome. But Cale is the best D in the NHL by a country mile.

CanucksArmy
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After watching Cale Makar and the Avs last night, @harmandayal2 makes his stance clear on who the best defenceman in the league is. #Hughes #Canucks Presented by | @bet365ca (19+) #bet365 #NeverOrdinary

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I would say asking Erik Johnson about the best NHL defenceman is like asking Ringo Starr about the musical genius of Paul McCartney, but that feels too disrespectful to Ringo Starr. Of course, Johnson is going to say his former teammate every time – that’s the respectful thing to say, regardless of what he thinks. But it doesn’t mean I have to agree. 
We are alive at the same time as Quinn Hughes is playing hockey. Isn’t that great? 
Captain Quinn has been his usual self through two games, breaking ankles, breaking records, and looking really happy about it.
Hughes has taken a slight back seat when it comes to offence, but his 1 assist thus far against Edmonton has cemented him in Canucks history. With 410 points, he became the franchise’s points leader across all defencemen. Not too shabby. 
This was bound to come sooner rather than later, after Hughes tied Alex Edler in the number one spot towards the end of last season. It’s still hard to believe that Quinn Hughes started off on a Canucks team that still had Alex Edler on it, and has now surpassed him in less than half of Edler’s total games played as a Canuck. Hughes celebrates his 26th birthday on Tuesday. Let’s hope the team shows up this week so his birthday party doesn’t turn into a pity party.
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