Canucks place Thatcher Demko on injured reserve

The placement is retroactive to Saturday, January 10, when Demko suffered a lower-body injury during the team’s 5-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He did not lead his teammates out for the second period. There was no update from the team, which would indicate Demko was pulled from the contest after allowing three goals on six shots. But when Head Coach Adam Foote was asked about the matter post-game, he revealed it was injury-related and that he would be re-evaluated in a few days.

With Demko on injured reserve, he will be out for the rest of the Canucks’ road trip through the Eastern Conference, to which they will face the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets. Vancouver has lost each of their first three games on this road trip. The 30-year-old netminder won’t be eligible to return to the lineup until January 17, when the Canucks return home to host division rival Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

With Demko out of action, Vancouver called up Nikita Tolopilo from its American Hockey League affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, who will serve as the backup to Kevin Lankinen. The Finnish backstop came in relief on Saturday night, giving up two goals on 18 shots across the final two periods. It has been a tough 2025-26 season for Lankinen. After playing fairly well last year, the 30-year-old is just 6-11-4 in 22 games thus far, with a 3.49 goals against average and a .883 save percentage.

Along with another injury being added to his resume, Demko joins a laundry list of players out of action for the Canucks. Centres Marco Rossi, Teddy Blueger and Filip Chytil are all on injured reserve, while defenceman Derek Forbort is on LTIR. Additionally, forward Conor Garland hasn’t played since being slew-footed by the Philadelphia Flyers on December 30.

Following Saturday night’s results, the Canucks remain 32nd in the NHL standings, tied with the Winnipeg Jets with 37 points. Another injury to Demko won’t help them move up the standings, but it should only help their odds at securing a high draft pick in June.