Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko avoids 'worst-case scenario' with injury

The Vancouver Canucks have had a difficult start to their season, and those difficulties continued with starting netminder Thatcher Demko going down with an injury. On Friday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman issued an update on Demko’s injury timeline. Per Friedman, Demko is injured on a six-week timeline, meaning the Canucks avoided a “worst-case scenario” with the injury.

The loss of Demko comes as a major blow to a Canucks franchise looking to build momentum and climb the standings. Like the Canucks as a whole, Demko has struggled so far this year. He has a .883 save percentage through 15 games, a significant decline from the .915 he posted in both 2021-22 and 2020-21. With a long recovery process in front of their starter, the Canucks will turn to backup Spencer Martin, who has a .900 save percentage in 10 games played.

Some other injury notes from across the NHL:

• The Nashville Predators announced in advance of Friday night’s game against the New York Islanders that forward Cody Glass would not play due to injury. Per the announcement, Glass is dealing with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day. The 2017 sixth-overall pick has three points in 14 NHL games so far this year and scored 62 points in 66 AHL games last season.
• There was a scary scene at the New York Rangers vs. Ottawa Senators game when veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic took a Vitali Kravtsov shot to his throat. As reported by NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, Hamonic stayed down after taking the shot and left for the Senators’ locker room shortly afterward. Thankfully, though, it seems Hamonic is all right, as Rosen reports he was back on the ice to start the second period.