Insider delivers concerning update in regards to Thatcher Demko's health

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Cooper Godin
August 20, 2024 (10:13)

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Rick Dhaliwal provided an update on Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko on Tuesday morning and it appears that his status is still up in the air.

As training camps around the National Hockey League get underway in less than a month, it looks like it's unclear whether or not Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko will be ready right away.

On Tuesday morning, Rick Dhaliwal was a guest on Sportsnet 650 radio and was asked if he had any updates on Thatcher Demko's recovery from back-to-back knee injuries, one which happened during the latter stages of the regular season and the other during their first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Nashville Predators.

Dhaliwal said that he's heard that Thatcher Demko is progressing from his knee injuries, but there is no timetable for when he'll be back to 100 percent healthy, which is a bit concerning.

"Well I think his status is very important. You guys know that training camp is around the corner and here we are in mid-August and no one is talking about Demko and what's going on." Dhaliwal said.

He added, "So, what I am hearing on Demko is that he's progressing, but no timetable as to when he's going to be 100 percent healthy."

Demko, 28, was lights out for the Canucks last season, setting new career-highs in wins, goals against average, save percentage and shutouts. In 51 games, Demko had a record of 34-14-2 with a 2.45 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and five shutouts. His strong season earned him a nomination as one of the three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, but fell short in the voting to Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.

If Demko isn't ready to start camp, or even the regular season, that'll put the Canucks in a really tough situation and they may need to examine external options rather than going with a tandem of Arturs Silovs & Jiri Patera.