Canucks’ Thatcher Demko out week-to-week with lower-body injury

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko is sidelined week-to-week with a lower-body injury, per The Athletic’s Thomas Drance.

Drance adds that Demko’s injury is not knee related, an ailment that kept him out of the lineup for the first 24 games of the 2024-25 campaign. Demko then missed two consecutive games in early January due to a back injury.

Upon the conclusion of the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Canucks will begin a five-game road trip, while Demko will be re-evaluated following the conclusion of the trip on March 1.

Limited to 17 appearances this season, Demko has posted a 6-6-3 record coupled with a .911 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against average. Last season, Demko finished as the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy after reaching a career-high 35 wins through 51 outings alongside a .918 save percentage, 2.45 goals-against average, and five shutouts.

Originally chosen 36th overall by Vancouver in the 2014 NHL Draft, Demko has made 236 career appearances with the Canucks in which he has recorded a 122-87-20 mark with a .911 save percentage, 2.80 goals-against average, and nine shutouts.

Per PuckPedia, the 29-year-old netminder is in the fourth year of a five-year contract that carries a $5-million annual average value.

With Demko sidelined, the Canucks will turn to backup netminder Kevin Lankinen. Through 34 appearances this season, the 29-year-old has posted a 19-8-7 record coupled with a .905 save percentage, 2.53 goals-against average, and four shutouts.

Earlier this year, Lankinen set an NHL record in becoming the first goaltender to begin a season with 10 consecutive road victories. Most recently, in representing Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Lankinen went 1-1-0 through two appearances in which he posted an .811 save percentage and 4.83 goals-against average.

The Canucks sit 26-18-11 to hold down the second wildcard seed in the Western Conference with 63 points.