The Canucks are looking to build on what was an impressive 2023-24 season, but with Thatcher Demko's injury status and goaltending guru Ian Clark moving to a new role, will this shakeup in the crease hold them back?

Coming off one of the most exhilarating seasons in franchise history, the Vancouver Canucks are already facing adversity as they look to defend their Pacific Division title in 2024-25.

Question marks suddenly surround the team’s goaltending, on two different fronts.

Demko’s Status Reportedly In Question

First — rumors that Thatcher Demko might not be ready to start the season grew into a full-scale report from Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal at The Athletic on Friday. 

After Demko missed all but one game of the Canucks’ playoff run last spring due to injury, Drance and Dhaliwal are reporting that multiple sources have indicated that Demko won’t be ready for training camp or be able to play in pre-season games. The best-case scenario sounds like a start for Vancouver's season opener on Oct. 9.

That’s a huge cause for concern. Last season, Demko put up career bests with a .918 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against average in 51 games and was a deserving runner-up for the Vezina Trophy. Demko also saved 22.0 goals above expected according to MoneyPuck.com, ranking second-best in the league.

But injuries have been an issue throughout Demko’s career, and there is often an air of mystery around the details, as we saw when he was abruptly pulled from the playoff rotation after completing Game 1 of the Canucks' first-round series against the Nashville Predators seemingly without incident back in April. 

Demko's knee injury in March also came without warning. And while Farhan Lalji of TSN originally reported a two-to-three week timeline, Demko ended up missing nearly six weeks before playing in the final two games of the regular season.

In April, Lalji reported that Demko’s playoff injury was to the same knee, but not an aggravation of the same issue. By the end of Round 2, the 28-year-old was back on the ice, with the expectation that he could have played if the Canucks had advanced to the Western Conference Final.

Now, Drance and Dhaliwal are reporting that Demko hasn’t been on the ice since the morning skate before Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers on May 20, and that the team’s concern ignited when Demko returned to Vancouver last week. It's not known whether he's had any type of medical procedure during the last three months.

Ian Clark Steps Off the Ice

The Canucks also announced a major change to their goaltending department on Wednesday.

Ian Clark has been the Canucks goaltending coach for the last five seasons and was promoted to director of goaltending last year. Now, he's moving off the ice but will remain with the team as a goaltending scout and development coach. 

Marko Torenius, who has been the goaltending coach for the Canucks’ AHL affiliate in Abbotsford for the last two seasons, will step into the NHL role.

Torenius has done good work in Abbotsford — most notably with Arturs Silovs, the 23-year-old Latvian who stepped in admirably for Demko during Vancouver’s playoff run. 

Now 47, Torenius’s history also includes a year as the director of goaltending for the national team program in his native Finland and several seasons with high-powered SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. There, his tally included Igor Shesterkin, Pyotr Kochetkov and Yaroslav Askarov.

But Torenius has big skates to fill in Vancouver, as Clark has been widely regarded as one of the top goalie coaches in the world. When his contract status with the Canucks was uncertain following the 2020-21 season, Demko was uncharacteristically vocal in supporting his mentor.

“Clarkie is unbelievable,” Demko said at the end of the 2021 season. “I owe probably just about everything to him. I don’t speak too much about him in the media. Obviously, I’m putting in the work, but the way he’s guided me and mentored me, it’s been amazing. I desperately hope that they can figure something out and have him return.”

Clark also earned plaudits from the Canucks’ previous starter, Jacob Markstrom. In an earlier stint with the Canucks from 2002-2010, he oversaw some of the best years of Roberto Luongo’s career. 

From 2011-2018, Clark worked with the Columbus Blue Jackets, helping Sergei Bobrovsky win his two Vezina Trophies.

In their press release, the Canucks suggest that physical concerns are at the heart of the Vancouver native Clark’s decision to change roles at age 58.

“Unfortunately, Ian can no longer go on the ice regularly to do the things that have made him successful,” said GM Patrik Allvin. “But this new role will fit with his expertise and having Clarkie going out to find and develop talent will be a big asset to the organization.”

What’s Next?

Armed with a new two-year contract after his impressive playoff audition last spring, Silovs was expected to back up Demko this fall after Casey DeSmith elected to sign a three-year deal with the Dallas Stars in free agency.

On July 1, the Canucks also signed 25-year-old free-agent Jiri Patera to a two-year contract. He has good size at 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds and has amassed a decent body of work in the AHL over the last four seasons. In the NHL, he has appeared in eight games for the Vegas Golden Knights.

The search is now on for a new goaltending coach for Abbotsford, and the organization currently has two additional AHL-eligible goaltenders. Nikita Tolopilo, a 6-foot-6 Finn, put up a .905 save percentage in 35 games with Abbotsford last season, his first year in North America. Ty Young was a fifth-round draft pick from the Prince George Cougars in 2022. He’ll turn 20 on Sept. 11, just before the 2024 Young Stars Classic kicks off in Penticton.

Patera would require waivers to be assigned to Abbotsford. Silovs, Tolopilo and Young would not.

Silovs is currently in Latvia, where he’ll try to help his national team qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics by finishing first in a three-game, four-team tournament to be held in Riga from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1.

The Canucks also hold the rights to 21-year-old Aku Koskenvuo. Drafted in the fifth round in 2021, the 6-foot-4 Finn is heading into his junior year at Harvard. He put up a .910 save percentage and 2.95 goals-against average in 17 appearances with his ECAC squad last season.

There are multiple reports that the Canucks are looking for additional goaltending insurance from the free-agent market. Former Nashville Predators backup Kevin Lankinen is rumored to be the top target and Patrick Johnston of The Province is reporting that the team is looking for a veteran goalie to come in on a PTO. 

That could be about helping handle the workload during training camp and pre-season, as well as potentially auditioning for a full-season job.

Some goalies should shake loose on the waiver wire as the pre-season progresses — although after finishing sixth overall in the league standings last season, the Canucks will be a long way down the priority list for waiver acquisitions.

As possibilities, the Detroit Red Wings have four potential NHL-caliber goalies under contract heading into pre-season: Ville Husso, Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon and Jack Campbell. The Buffalo Sabres have Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, James Reimer and Devon Levi. And the San Jose Sharks now have Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek in addition to their new acquisition, Askarov.

Last season, the Canucks acquired DeSmith from the Montreal Canadiens just two days before training camp began. He joined the team in exchange for Tanner Pearson and a 2025 third-round pick on Sept. 19, 2023 and appeared in 29 games for Vancouver, amassing a record of 12-9-6.