It’s been a slow summer for Elliotte Friedman and his 32 thoughts articles. Those pieces highlight what one of the biggest National Hockey League’s is hearing from all 32 teams. However, during the summer, he has only updated the hockey world with two editions of the article and one in podcast form.
Friedman published his second and final of the summer Sunday morning. He highlighted his week at the NHL/NHLPA European Media Tour with quotes from multiple NHLers, such as Sebastian Aho, Juuse Saros, Martin Necas, and David Pastrnak.
But thought 25 of 32, he spoke about the Vancouver Canucks. He commented on Ian Clark’s role change and star goaltender Thatcher Demko’s health.
“The thing that surprised most about Ian Clark stepping away from day-to-day Vancouver goalie duties was the timing,” Friedman speculated. “Usually those decisions are made earlier in the summer.”
“What to watch for will be how (or if) Thatcher Demko’s workload both on and off the ice changes under new supervision. No one is really sure about his timeline. The Canucks wanted Demko — who was recovering from injury — to play (preferably twice) before last year’s playoffs, so they knew if they could count on him. He made those two appearances and won Game 1 versus Nashville, then broke down and did not return in the playoffs. It wasn’t an unreasonable request, but did Demko, like any athlete would, push himself too hard to hit that target? And what does that mean for the future?”
In their most recent article on the Athletic, Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal mentioned that multiple league sources have indicated that the Demko won’t be ready for the start of training camp or preseason games.
Concern grows through Canucks-land about Demko’s health, not only for the upcoming 2024-2025 season but also for his long-term health.
Demko will have 25 days to get healthy for training camp, 30 days until the Canucks first preseason game and 45 days until Vancouver kicks off the regular season against the Calgary Flames.
