The Vancouver Canucks are in a spot of bother with Demko and Silovs’ injuries. (Source: Imagn)
As the 2024-25 NHL season draws closer, the Vancouver Canucks face a race against time to resolve their goaltender dilemma.
With both Thatcher Demko and Arturs Silovs still making their way back from injuries, the Canucks find themselves without an outright goaltender to start in net.
In a conversation with the Sportsnet, President of Hockey Operations for the Vancouver Canucks, Jim Rutherford shared the team’s plans of possibly moving for another goaltender before the start of next season. Rutherford said,
“We look every day at every position. We don’t just sit around and think we’re all set. So we are aware that, potentially, we may have to take a goalie off of waivers in order to fill a gap for a little bit.”
The team was heavily dependent on goaltender Thatcher Demko to guard their net last season. However, the 28-year-old has had terrible luck with injuries recently.
Demko first sustained a knee injury back in March and ended up being sidelined for 14 games. He returned to start the team’s last regular season game, but ended up injuring his knee agains during the team’s first playoff game against the Nashville Predators. He would go on to miss the remainder of their playoff run which ended in defeat to the Edmonton Oilers.
Rutherford went on to add how he plans to navigate the signing of a third goaltender come the season opener against the Calgary Flames,
“The good news for us we are in a position that we can do that cap-wise. (But) we’d prefer to stay out of LTIR to start the season. That’s important for us, and. . . we’re pretty sure we can do that. A PTO could be an option.”
Vancouver Canucks receive positive update on Thatcher Demko
NHL insider Rick Dhaliwal shared some optimism regarding Thatcher Demko’s return. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the insider noted that the Canucks’ starting goalie is back skating and looks to be on course to return for training camp.
“I just wanted to give a bit of an update on the training camp goaltending situation. Some good news: I am hearing that Thatcher Demko is back skating and working out on the ice this week. That’s a very good sign.”
#Canucks goalie update pic.twitter.com/Q8CL3yAJLy
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) September 3, 2024
Echoing Rutherford’s statement, Dhaliwal also noted that the Vancouver-based club were still in the hunt for another goalie as cover for their goalie tandem.
“Canucks continue to pursue UFA goaltender Kevin Lankinen. The club has made Lankinen an offer… We’ll see where that ends up.”
The club recently announced that they will hold their training camp from September 19 to 22 at the South Okanagan Events Centre (SOEC) in Penticton, British Columbia.
