The Vancouver Canucks goaltender will not actively participate at the start of training camp, general manager Rian Johnson said Wednesday.
“He’ll be with the team there and on the ice,” Johnson added. “He won’t be with anyone from the main group and that’s not a failure in any way. It’s part of our process.”
“I spoke with (Demko) again yesterday, as we have been communicating all summer, to make sure we were both aligned organizationally.”
In late January, Demko underwent season-ending hip surgery.
The 30-year-old goalie was injured in Vancouver’s match against the Maple Leafs in Toronto on January 10.
“We never had a specific time frame for his recovery,” Johnson said. “We just wanted to make sure that this was a one-time thing and that when he came back he felt 100 percent ready to go.”
Demko, who signed a three-year, $25.5 million extension with the Canucks on July 1, 2025, went 8-10-1 with a .897 save percentage, 2.90 goals-against average and one shutout last season.
He missed 12 games with a lower-body injury between mid-November and mid-December, then returned and appeared in 10 more games before losing to Toronto.
This is the second straight injury-plagued season for the star goalkeeper.
Demko played in just 23 games in the 2024-25 season, missing the first three months of the season with a knee injury.
His best season came in 2023-24, when he was a Vezina finalist after going 35-14-2 with a .918 save percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts.
If Demko is forced to miss the start of the season, Kevin Lankinen is expected to take over the Canucks’ No. 1 role.