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Canucks say Demko ‘cautiously progressing’ but will start season on injured reserve

Photo credit: © Brad Penner-Imagn Images

By Jeff Paterson

Sep 26, 2026, 12:45 EDTUpdated: Sep 26, 2026, 12:41 EDT

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This much we know for sure: Thatcher Demko will begin the new hockey season on the injured list. Beyond that, however, very little is certain when it comes to the Vancouver Canucks netminder, who continues to recover from double hip surgery last February.

The club insists the 30-year-old puckstopper continues to make progress, but with opening night now just days away, it’s also evident that Demko will miss time due to injury for a fifth straight season.

As he has been throughout the recovery process, General Manager Ryan Johnson remained vague on Demko’s status Friday afternoon, other than to suggest the rehabilitation process remains on track, even if it seems to be taking longer than everyone involved had hoped.

“We’re continuing on – and it sounds like a broken record – but we’re just taking the correct steps with Thatcher to do this once and one time only,” Johnson told the media at Rogers Arena. “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 is comfortable with it. If it takes longer than expected or weeks more than you anticipate, if we’re doing it right, we feel really comfortable about it.”

Demko has been on the ice for weeks now. He first posted pictures on his social media accounts from summer skates. He then took the ice in full gear, working with goalie coach Marko Torenius on the first day of training camp in Penticton. Demko appeared limited in his movement and faced shots from the coaching staff only, but not from NHL shooters.

Brendan Batchelor

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Thatcher Demko is on the ice in Penticton. #Canucks

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4:18 PM · Sep 17, 2026

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Demko is around the team on a daily basis and took part of a recent practice from the bench. He was also part of a cheque presentation and ceremonial faceoff at centre ice prior to Thursday’s preseason game against Edmonton.

But now, as his teammates prepare to begin the 2026-27 hockey season in Edmonton on Tuesday, Demko will find himself playing catch-up. The Canucks open the schedule with four games in six nights and play their first nine contests in 19 days. It stands to reason that practice time will be tough to come by in the first weeks of the season, and it also seems reasonable to think Demko will need a solid run of practices whenever he is cleared to join his teammates before he can even consider a return to game action for the first time since January 10th – now nearly nine months ago.

“I give our staff credit, we’ve been cautiously progressing but not ‘hey this is a great day, now let’s jump forward’ making sure those great days are jammed together and then being able to take a baby step forward as opposed to two forward, one back,” Johnson explained. “We’re being very methodical with it. But we and Thatcher and our medical people, we want to do this once and do it correctly.”

The Canucks, of course, have no choice but to push on in Demko’s absence. The NHL doesn’t wait for injured players, and the season will begin next week without him. The Canucks added goaltending insurance on Friday with the addition of Leevi Meriläinen off waivers from Ottawa.

The club also has Kevin Lankinen, Nikita Tolopilo and pro tryout hopeful Chris Driedger in camp as it gets down to its final roster cuts by Monday.

At some point, it is hoped, Thatcher Demko will be an option for the hockey club. But that time is clearly not now. So he keeps putting in the hours in the gym and on his own on the ice, trying to stack up a bunch of good days with an eye toward returning to practice with his teammates someday soon.

But when that day will be remains anybody’s guess. Everything around Demko these days is a mystery — except that he will start the season on the injured list.