Vancouver’s training camp is opening without Thatcher Demko in the main mix, and Canucks GM Ryan Johnson made that much clear on Wednesday morning.
Demko will be in Penticton and will get on the ice, but he won’t be a full participant when camp begins this week. In other words, the goaltender is present, but the team is still easing him back rather than throwing him into the regular group.
That approach fits the path Demko has been on since hip surgery in January. He was shut down for the remainder of the 2025-26 season after the procedure, which was designed to deal with chronic issues.
In April, Demko said he had been skating with zero degrees of internal rotation in his hips and talked about wanting a fresh start. Since June, he has been back in Vancouver for light skating and individual workouts, with the Canucks taking their time and making sure he doesn’t rush into anything.
The caution makes sense given his injury history. Demko has been banged up multiple times over the course of his career and has played only 43 games over the past two seasons, with several trips to Injured Reserve along the way.
Johnson also spoke at length about what Demko means to the organization right now, and he framed the conversation around the person as much as the player.
“The main focus is on Thatcher, not necessarily for what he means to the organization, but Thatcher the person. He’s battled a lot.
He’s been through a lot physically and emotionally. You can imagine the amount of recoveries and things that he has gone through and what that mental strain has been on him.
For myself and the organization over the summer, was just trying to support him. He’s done so much work.
He stayed here in Vancouver.
“So what does he mean to the organization right now? I think he’s a perfect example of somebody that just keeps fighting and keeps wanting to get back.
He has so much love for the game and love for his teammates. And some of our discussions, he doesn’t just want to get back and play, he wants to get back and be a part of the solution for this organization moving forward.
So I commend him, his approach, and like I said, my focus is on Thatcher the person right now, and I think it’d be very selfish to think about the other way of what he means necessarily to the future of the organization.”
The Canucks are heading to Penticton today and will open training camp Thursday morning at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
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