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Thatcher Demko wishes his Vancouver Canucks contract was even longer

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Jul 3 2025, 4:58 pm
Thatcher Demko wishes his Vancouver Canucks contract was even longer
Bob Frid/Imagn Images

It sounds as though Thatcher Demko’s only issue with his Vancouver Canucks extension is that it isn’t longer.

The 29-year-old wasted no time working out a new deal with the Canucks, as the two parties agreed to a three-year, $25.5 million deal on Tuesday. The contract will see Demko carry a cap hit of $8.5 million beginning in the 2026-27 season.

Demko had a disappointing 2024-25 season, as injury limited him to just 23 games. When healthy, however, he is one of the best goalies in the game, which explains why the Canucks were willing to hand him the contract they did. From the sounds of it, the veteran netminder was more than happy to sign it.

“I would sign for 20 years in Vancouver if I could have,” Demko said on TSN’s OverDrive. “I’ve always wanted to be there my whole career. I think there’s a bit of a dying breed of guys that get drafted somewhere and want to see it through no matter what adversity hits.”

Demko went on to admit that he understands why the Canucks may have preferred a shorter-term deal due to concerns about his health. Having played more than 50 games just twice in his NHL career, he has no issue admitting his injury history, but believes it is all in the past.

“Like I’ve mentioned, I’ve been in contact with this biomechanic specialist guy, which has really helped shape my programming for my summer,” Demko said. “It’s kind of brought in some new ideologies and things like that. I feel really good.”

What made the Demko extension slightly surprising was the fact that the Canucks chose to give Kevin Lankinen a five-year, $22.5 million extension of his own back in February. It’s a lot of money to commit to two goaltenders, though it certainly ensures that the Canucks will have an elite duo between the pipes should both remain healthy going forward.

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