The history of professional sports is littered with players who had all the talent and toughness in the world, but just couldn't stay healthy no matter what they did. Given the latest news regarding Thatcher Demko, you have to wonder if he is going to be the latest name to be added to this unfortunate list.
CHEK's Rick Dhaliwal has reported that Demko is taking longer than expected, to recover from his knee injury. As a result, the Canucks are on the look-out for some short-term help between the pipes.
Dhaliwal made his comments during a Tuesday appearance on Sportsnet 650. Of particular note, is that concern about the speed of Demko's rehab goes all the way back to the end of June.
The 28-year-old had originally suffered a knee injury early in March, which resulted in him missing 14 games. And while he did return towards the end of the regular season, he suffered another knee issue in the Vancouver Canucks' first game of the playoffs versus the Nashville Predators, and never returned.
Some confusion over Demko's injury
What's confusing is that as the Canucks' second round playoff series versus the Edmonton Oilers progressed, there was talk about Demko returning. Further, after they were knocked out in game seven, the goalie himself said he would have been able to play if the Canucks had advanced to the Western Conference Final.
Based on the latest update though, this now appears to have never been the case. Regardless, it does bring to mind the ongoing concerns about the two-time NHL All-Star's durability, which dates back to when he was first named as the Canucks' number one in net.
As alluded to at the beginning of this post, no one will ever doubt Demko's ability. This became more clear than ever this past season, with him being named as a Vezina Trophy finalist for the first time, following a career year.
In fact, you have to wonder if Demko could have won the Vezina Trophy outright, if he hadn't suffered his knee injuries? However this brings us back to the main point and concern in this post - his inability to remain healthy.
What can Demko do differently?
During his end-of-season availability, the 2014 second round draft pick was asked about what he could do to improve his chances of remaining healthy. He did discuss tweaking a couple of things, but stated he wasn't going to reinvent his game or anything along those lines.
There is talk about making sure to given Demko's backups more action, e.g. maybe having him sit out every third game. Indeed, Arturs Silovs did show some promise this past season, specifically during the playoffs after his fellow goalie was injured.
Ultimately though, you want your number one goalie to be more reliable -- or to the point more durable -- as opposed to worrying about if he's going to pick up yet another injury. As a result, we're coming close to a critical point for Demko in Vancouver.
As things stand, Demko has two seasons left on his current deal, with an average annual value of $5 million. If he cannot improve his health and fitness in the coming two seasons, harsh or not, he may well become an unrestricted free agent through no choice of his own and have to look elsewhere for a team to play for.