<p>One of the first questions that popped up the most after the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks</a> signed Kevin Lankinen to a <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-sign-kevin-lankinen-five-year-contract-extension">five-year contract extension</a> on Friday was &#8220;<a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/path-forward-where-vancouver-canucks-kevin-lankinen-thatcher-demko">what does this mean for Thatcher Demko?</a>&#8221;</p>
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<p>It makes sense, too. After all, you&#8217;d have been crazy to suggest even a year ago that the Canucks would be signing another starting goaltender long term while Demko still has two years left on his contract. But the world we live in is one where it&#8217;s become a painful reality that Demko&#8217;s body just can&#8217;t hold up any longer. After taking all offseason and two months into the season to heal from a frustrating knee injury, Demko exited just a few months ago with back spasms before missing time.</p>
<p>Upon returning, Demko finally started to find his form <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/demko-not-travelling-vancouver-canucks-5-game-road-trip-deemed-week-week">before exiting once again with another injury</a>. This one, a third injury that the Canucks insist isn&#8217;t to his knee, appears to be unrelated two his previous two injuries in the past year. So you would understand if given this string of horrible injury luck that could seriously jeopardize his spot in the Canucks&#8217; long-term plans, that Demko wasn&#8217;t all that excited to see the club commit long-term to the guy who was brought in to serve as his safety net.</p>
<p>But that doesn&#8217;t appear to be how Demko is handling things.</p>
<p>Instead, Lankinen said that Demko was among the first to text him upon signing his extension with the Canucks on Friday.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thatcher&#8217;s been great,&#8221; Lankinen told reporters shortly after signing the new deal. &#8220;He&#8217;s been dealing with his own stuff, which can be really hard mentally, but he&#8217;s been super supportive ever since day one.</p>
<p>&#8220;He was one of the first guys to text me when they announced the contract, which kind of shows he&#8217;s a class act.</p>
<p>&#8220;Just being able to work with him, he&#8217;s one of the best goalies in the world. He&#8217;s showed that over the years, and just seeing him from a close range and being able to learn from him has been awesome. I think moving forward it&#8217;s a good thing for Thatcher and a good thing for me to push each other to get better, and I think that will help the team win in the long term.&#8221;</p>
<p>Lankinen turned in a Demko-like performance in the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/stanchies-vancouver-canucks-waste-kevin-lankinen-3-1-loss-vegas-golden-knights">Canucks&#8217; 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights</a> on Saturday night. The Canucks will certainly need him to keep that up if they hope to be a playoff team both this season and in the years to come.</p>
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One of the first questions that popped up the most after the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks</a> signed Kevin Lankinen to a <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-sign-kevin-lankinen-five-year-contract-extension">five-year contract extension</a> on Friday was "<a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/path-forward-where-vancouver-canucks-kevin-lankinen-thatcher-demko">what does this mean for Thatcher Demko?</a>"
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It makes sense, too. After all, you'd have been crazy to suggest even a year ago that the Canucks would be signing another starting goaltender long term while Demko still has two years left on his contract. But the world we live in is one where it's become a painful reality that Demko's body just can't hold up any longer. After taking all offseason and two months into the season to heal from a frustrating knee injury, Demko exited just a few months ago with back spasms before missing time.

Upon returning, Demko finally started to find his form <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/demko-not-travelling-vancouver-canucks-5-game-road-trip-deemed-week-week">before exiting once again with another injury</a>. This one, a third injury that the Canucks insist isn't to his knee, appears to be unrelated two his previous two injuries in the past year. So you would understand if given this string of horrible injury luck that could seriously jeopardize his spot in the Canucks' long-term plans, that Demko wasn't all that excited to see the club commit long-term to the guy who was brought in to serve as his safety net.

But that doesn't appear to be how Demko is handling things.

Instead, Lankinen said that Demko was among the first to text him upon signing his extension with the Canucks on Friday.

"Thatcher's been great," Lankinen told reporters shortly after signing the new deal. "He's been dealing with his own stuff, which can be really hard mentally, but he's been super supportive ever since day one.

"He was one of the first guys to text me when they announced the contract, which kind of shows he's a class act.

"Just being able to work with him, he's one of the best goalies in the world. He's showed that over the years, and just seeing him from a close range and being able to learn from him has been awesome. I think moving forward it's a good thing for Thatcher and a good thing for me to push each other to get better, and I think that will help the team win in the long term."

Lankinen turned in a Demko-like performance in the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/stanchies-vancouver-canucks-waste-kevin-lankinen-3-1-loss-vegas-golden-knights">Canucks' 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights</a> on Saturday night. The Canucks will certainly need him to keep that up if they hope to be a playoff team both this season and in the years to come.

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