According to a team announcement, the Vancouver Canucks have placed Thatcher Demko on the injured reserve with a lower-body injury. In a corresponding roster move, the team has activated defenseman Victor Mancini.
Demko suffered the injury during Tuesday’s game in Vancouver against the Winnipeg Jets, which is why the Canucks made their transaction retroactive to November 11th. He left the game after the first period, stopping five of eight shots.
This is a familiar spot for Demko. He spent much of last season on the injured reserve due to knee and other lower-body issues. He finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 10-8-3 record in 23 games with a .889 SV% and 2.90 GAA. Still, despite the significant injury issues, the Canucks extended Demko to a three-year, $25.5MM contract extension this summer.
Vancouver will rely on Kevin Lankinen for the next few weeks while Demko recovers. Unfortunately, he’s struggled out of the gates this season with a 3-5-1 record in nine games with a .885 SV% and 3.57 GAA.
Meanwhile, Mancini returns to the lineup after missing the Canucks last eight games due to an undisclosed injury. He’s only skated in five games this season, going scoreless with a -2 rating. The 23-year-old blueliner was a supplementary piece of the J.T. Miller trade with the New York Rangers last year. Unfortunately, with seven other defensemen on the active roster, Mancini doesn’t have a spot in the lineup set in stone.
Mancini is actually a pretty good prospect