The Vancouver Canucks will sit goaltender Thatcher Demko and defenseman Derek Forbort for the season finale on Wednesday against the visiting Vegas Golden Knights.
Demko, 29, has missed the previous two games because of illness for the Canucks (38-29-14, 90 points), who did not qualify for the postseason. Forbort, 33, missed Monday’s 2-1 overtime win over visiting San Jose after breaking his orbital bone during a fight with Minnesota’s Yakov Trenin in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss at home to the Wild.
Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said before Monday’s game that there was no reason to play Demko, who has missed time due to injury or illness on four occasions this season. He sat out training camp and the first 24 games to start the season while recovering from a knee injury sustained on April 21, 2024, in the opener of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against Nashville.
Demko made his debut on Dec. 10, missed two games because of back spasms in January and 15 games over six weeks following a lower-body injury against Toronto in February.
“He does feel great body-wise,” Tocchet said. “I think this is the first summer he’s going to go in without having to do a surgery. I think it’s all positive with Thatcher. He’s at a good place mentally, (and) he’s got a good team going for his training.”
Demko’s last game was April 8, a 6-5 overtime win on the road against the Dallas Stars. He went 10-8-3 this season with a 2.90 goals-against average and .889 save percentage in 23 games.
A two-time All-Star, Demko has spent his entire career with Vancouver, which selected him in the second round of the 2014 NHL Draft. He is 126-89-20 for his career with a 2.80 GAA and .910 save percentage. He finished second in the Vezina Trophy voting in 2023-24, when he was 35-14-2 with a 2.45 GAA and .918 save percentage.
Tocchet said of Forbort’s injury: “You don’t want a guy like that starting the summer like that. He’s a big part of our team.”
Forbort, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) with 45 penalty minutes, 77 blocks and 65 hits while averaging 17:06 of ice time in 54 games this season.
He has 19 goals, 87 assists, 344 penalty minutes, 936 blocks and 923 hits while averaging 19.06 on the ice in 550 games for the Los Angeles Kings (2015-20), Calgary Flames (2020), Winnipeg Jets (2020-21), Boston Bruins (2021-24) and Canucks.
