Canucks’ Thatcher Demko placed on injured reserve

The Vancouver Canucks have announced that they’ve placed goaltender Thatcher Demko on injured reserve retroactive to November 11th.

Demko sustained a lower-body injury at some point of the first period of Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, but he played the entirety of the frame before not returning for the second period. Some think that Demko sustained the injury during a cross-crease save on Cole Perfetti during the opening period.

The specifics of Demko’s injury still haven’t been confirmed by the Canucks, but it was reported earlier this week that he was only expected to miss 2-3 weeks. With his IR placement, he is for sure to miss the next three games, although his overall timeline has him likely to miss five to 10 games.

The injury came in Demko’s first game back after a netminder amidst a condensed schedule due to the Olympic break, and the team was adamant that it wasn’t injury-related. Insider Frank Seravalli reported earlier this week that this injury isn’t related to those maintenance days, and also isn’t related to the knee injury that kept Demko out for a large part of last season.

When healthy, Demko has had a solid season, as in 10 games he has a 5-4-0 record, a .903 SV% and an 7.49 5v5 goals saved above expected that ranks sixth among all goalies this season.

The Canucks also announced that defenseman Victor Mancini has been activated from IR. At this point in time, it’s not clear whether or not the move was in preparation for his return for Friday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes or if it’s merely a transactional move since they have the roster space with Demko’s IR placement.

The Canucks will look to bounce back from back-to-back losses when they visit the Hurricanes on Friday at 4 p.m. PST. Vancouver currently sits in seventh in the Pacific Division with an 8-9-1 record.