Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko hasn't played since Dec. 1 as he's been dealing with a lower-body injury, but he's nearing a return.
Demko, 27, told reporters Tuesday that barring any major setbacks, he plans to be ready for Saturday's contest against the Philadelphia Flyers, where he will be the backup to Collin Delia.
Delia is the team's No. 1 option at the moment after they placed goaltender Spencer Martin on waivers Monday.
Demko, who has been the centre of a lot of trade discussion over the past few weeks, also denied any of the reports that he was looking to get out of Vancouver.
"It's not true," Demko said, via Sportsnet650 Brendan Batchelor. "I'll just say that, point blank."
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin was asked in an exclusive interview with Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre if he considered the 27-year-old netminder as one of the team's untouchables. Allvin admitted that he did have a few players in mind that he would not consider trading, but refrained from naming names.
"I do think that we have some untouchables," Allvin told MacIntyre. "We've got some really key pieces and I believe we're trending the right way here."
Vancouver has really struggled defensively as of late, giving up at least five goals in its past three games, including back-to-back blowout losses to the Detroit Red Wings.
Demko has proven he can be a starter in the league, as last year he played in 64 games for the Canucks and finished with a 33-22-7 record with a 2.72 goals against average.
In 2022-23, Demko has started just 15 games, posting a 3-10-2 record with his goals-against average ballooning to 3.93.
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