Thatcher Demko situation still not clear even after speaking to media

There has been so much speculation and ambiguity surrounding Thatcher Demko of late, Vancouver Canucks fans don't know whether they're coming or going. This includes not knowing when he will be ready to play again, along with a recent report from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, that his ongoing knee injury was mishandled to the point he will now have to learn to play with it.

With this in mind, there was plenty of intrigue when it was announced by general manager Patrik Allvin, that Demko would address the media about his injury situation on Thursday. Perhaps we'd finally get some sort of clarity, along with a timeline for the goalie's return to action.

Well, not so fast. While we won't go as far as saying even more uncertainty now surrounds the two-time All-Star's status, no one is really any better off in knowing what's going on.

A rare injury for Demko

One thing which really stood out, was Demko advising he didn't have a typical injury, to the point he's not aware of any other hockey player who has ever dealt with the same situation. Speaking to the media on Thursday, he said: "When I first felt the injury, I wasn't too sure what it was and, as we dived into some research and things, it was a little ambiguous. There's a lack of research. I don't know too much about what this looks like, full picture, at the end of this whole process."

For what it's worth, the 28-year-old did note that they were able to find a few soccer players who had suffered the same type of injury. As per Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre, he said: "It's been ... a little bit of a frustrating summer, just trying to get some answers. Obviously, we've talked to all the specialists that we can around the world, in North America and even overseas ... and this is the information that we've kind of gathered."

As the situation dragged on, Demko did admit he struggled at times with the lack of clarity and progress. He said: "I did hit a bit of a wall in the summer as far as the recovery went, and we did see a little bit of a lack of progress there for a couple of months. And obviously, that's why I'm in a situation that I'm in right now."

The San Diego, California native was quick to add though, that he's in a better place now. He said: "I would say, you know, in the last probably two or three weeks, we've seen a ton of progress. We're very confident in where I am right now and happy with that."

What about the report on how the Canucks handled the injury?

In respect of Friedman's report about the mishandling of Demko's injury, he didn't confirm or deny this, leaving you open to interpret as you wish about what he did comment. He said: "I'm sure it will be a situation, just like anything when you have an injury, it's something you have to keep an eye on and maybe tweak some of your training habits and some of your rehab habits and just stay on top of your maintenance and things like that."

Of course, this is all very well. However, what's most important to know, is when the 2014 second round draft pick will actually be back on the ice and between the pipes?

Unfortunately for Canucks fans Demko was unable to give a timeline, but he did at least sound hopeful in a general sense. He said: "I can't really give you an answer, to be honest. Had you asked me a month ago, I really wouldn't have been able to tell you. I would say that we are on a great trajectory right now. This is the most confident that I've been in the rehab process up to date. Hopefully, just keep progressing week to week. I'm not going to sit here and give you a timeline. But, yeah ... I feel really confident in where we’re headed and hopefully I'll be 100 percent sooner rather than later."

Taking everything into account, it is our educated guess that Demko will not be ready for the start of the 2024-25 regular season. This means Arturs Silovs will likely take the reigns for the home opener versus the Calgary Flames, on Oct. 9.

Canucks fans will of course be hoping last season's Vezina Trophy finalist will be back sooner than later. However, while recent developments sound promising, we're not going to make any assumptions, just because of how this whole situation has played out thus far.

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