The Vancouver Canucks may have a very serious problem on their hands as new reports have emerged regarding the health of Thatcher Demko thanks to Elliotte Friedman.
The Canucks were a young, up-and-coming team last season that surprised many around the NHL by winning the Pacific Division. A large part of their success came from their starting netminder Thatcher Demko, who was excellent for them, although he did battle injuries late in the season that carried over into the playoffs.
According to the latest report from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, his injury is something that he will have to play through as it cannot be repaired with surgery.
'The best piece of information I've been given is quite simply, he's going to have to learn to play with this. It's not something that can be fixed with surgery but it's something that he's going to have to learn to play through and can play through.'
Furthermore, the insider also revealed that he may not even be ready for the start of the regular season, let alone training camp and pre-season. Should this injury continue to linger on, there will certainly be discussions about Demko's health going into the future, and the team may even feel obligated to make a backup plan in case he can never get back to 100%.
'Right now I don't know that he's gonna be ready for the start of the season. What I don't get the sense is that the Canucks are worried that he's gonna be out half the year.'
Apparently, Demko was even pressured into returning early so that he could prove to the team that he was healthy enough to start game one of the playoffs.
Naturally, rushing him back into action backfired as it has so many times before with other athletes. Demko ultimately ended up sitting on the sidelines for much of the Canucks' playoff run, and now his long-term future may be in jeopardy.
'I believe that the Canucks told Demko last year before the playoffs 'We need to know that we can count on you in the postseason, we don't want uncertainty, and you have to play 2 games before the playoffs before we commit to you to start the postseason.' What it did is it forced Demko to rush to get back and I'm just not convinced that he was ever 100% healthy. Demko comes back, wins the one game, and then he gets hurt.'
Certainly, the Canucks have not handled this situation very well at all, and now they may pay the price. Big Head Hockey on X summed up the situation in a single, damning post.
Meanwhile, Bleacher Report journalist Sara Civian deserves credit for accurately assessing Demko's situation as it was unfolding in the playoffs last year. She was the only one who reported that Demko was likely done for the season, even as other, more prominent insiders refuted that claim.
Clearly, she was correct and it appears as though there may be sources within the Canucks organization that are lying or have lied in the past to NHL reporters.
At this point, Demko's future in the NHL is in question. Hopefully for his sake and the sake of his team, he is able to make a full recovery and return to his past self on the ice. If not, the Canucks could find themselves scratching and clawing for a playoff spot rather than winning the division for years to come.
