Lineup Notes: Thatcher Demko Gets First Start Of 2026 As Canucks Host The Kraken

5 days ago 2

The Vancouver Canucks kick off 2026 with a battle against the Seattle Kraken. These two teams met right before the new year, with Vancouver picking up a win in the shootout. Here are the lineup notes for January 2, 2026.

In goal, Thatcher Demko will be making his 18th start of the season on Friday night. In 10 career games against the Kraken, the 30-year-old is 5-3-1 with an .891 save percentage. Demko is looking for win #135 of his career as well as his ninth of the 2025-26 season.

On the blue line, defenceman Elias Pettersson will sit for the second straight game. In his place will be Pierre-Olivier Joseph, who will be skating in his 13th game of the year. Head coach Adam Foote has mentioned that there will be some lineup rotations over the next month as the Canucks get set to play 16 games in January.

Lastly, Vancouver will be missing Conor Garland and Marco Rossi on Friday night. Both are expected to miss at least a week with injuries. Rossi was placed on IR retroactive to December 30, while Arshdeep Bains was called up by the Canucks.

Projected Lineup:

DeBrusk-Pettersson-Karlsson
Kane-Sasson-Boeser
O’Connor-Kämpf-Sherwood
Öhgren-Räty-Höglander

M.Pettersson-Hronek
Buium-Myers
Joseph-Willander

Demko
Lankinen

Game Information:

Start time: 7:30 pm PT

Venue: Rogers Arena

Television: Sportsnet

Radio: Sportsnet 650

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