Demko opens up on surgery and injury problems at opening day of Canucks training camp

The Vancouver Canucks officially opened up their 2024-25 training camp this morning and the first man on the ice was goaltender Thatcher Demko.

That's obviously good news for Demko, the team and its fanbase given the injury reports that we've read on the goaltender this offseason.

Demko's injury status has been a mystery for months now after he was pulled from the team's first round playoff series against the Nashville Predators. He was reportedly ready to return to action if the Canucks were able to extend their season with a Game 7 win against the Edmonton Oilers, but ultimately the team fell short. Flash forward to the offseason and there were reports that Demko was never ready to return to action and would actually require surgery to repair an injury. Then... radio silence.

Did Demko have surgery? If so, how major of a procedure did he have? Will he be ready to start the season? These are all questions that Demko was asked by reporters today.

“I’ve been able to rehab a ton this summer, and sure it’s taking a bit longer than I would have liked but over the past few weeks I’m feeling a lot better now and there’s some light at the end of the tunnel,” Demko said to reporters.

Demko did confirm that he had a "minor procedure" in what he calls a "frustrating summer."

“It’s such a rare case, such a unique injury, that we didn’t have a lot of readily available research or case studies,” Demko said.

The good news is that Demko says he has made progress in the past two weeks saying, “I have full confidence that I’ll be able to get back to 100%.”

So... what happened? Why the mixed messaging?

“Looking back, as a competitor I think you kind of lie to yourself in a playoff situation,” Demko said in reference to reports that he was nearing a return. “I thought maybe I was a little bit farther ahead than I was. In hindsight, I do think that I would have been in a situation where I probably would have been able to kind of grit through it and maybe get out there and play in the Conference Final.”

The frustration in Demko's words were evident today, as he made it clear that he's at a loss as to the nature of his injury.

“There’s not one case that we can find, goaltender or hockey player in general. It’s been wild. It’s been part of the frustration, is just not having a ton of information and you’re kind of going into it blindfolded. I did hit a bit of a wall in the summer as far as the recovery went. We did see a little bit of a lack of progress there for a couple months. Obviously that’s why I’m in the situation that I’m in right now.”

Here's hoping the netminder can find a solution for what ails him because the Canucks' season is very dependent on his ability to stay between the pipes.

Read below for our report on Demko published by Hockey Feed staff writer Jonathan Larrivee earlier this week.

With questions surrounding the health of their goaltending for this upcoming season, there was word floating around that the Vancouver Canucks were in search of some insurance between the pipes. It sounds like they finally found their man on Sunday night.

According to an official announcement from the Canucks organization, the team has extended a professional tryout offer to former Ottawa Senators goaltender Dylan Ferguson who has agreed to join the team in training camp.

Ferguson is a former 7th round pick (194th overall) of the Dallas Stars at the 2017 National Hockey League Entry Draft and most recently spent time playing professional hockey in the Kontinental Hockey League. Last season Ferguson was a member of Dynamo Minsk,appearing in 23 games for the KHL team in which he recorded a 2.51 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.

The majority of his NHL experience came the season prior as a member of the Ottawa Senators in which he appeared in only 2 games, having stellar performances wiht a 2.52 goals against average and a .940 sdave percentage over those 2 games. He fared well in the American Hockey League that season as well as a member of the Belleville Senators, recording a 2.52 goals against average as well as a .962 save percentage.

Earlier in the day I brought you a report from an outlet in Finland that indicated that former NHL goaltender Antti Raanta had turned down a offer from the Canucks during the offseason, choosing instead to return closer to home and play in Europe this season. That would appear to indicate that Ferguson wasn't the Canucks first choice, but hopefully he will prove to be suitable for the role.