Thatcher Demko Discusses How He Prepared for a Bounce-Back Season After Injury Struggles in 2024-25

"Yeah, we got to work pretty much right away. I missed enough time last year that I didn't feel like I was really needing that much time off. You know, trying to explain what I was going through last year (with the popliteus injury), I can't really do justice to it. It's just such a breath of fresh air to be able to come into a season healthy, with a very clear mindset as far as what I needed to do, and having the freedom to go out and do it.

This summer, just as much work as I was putting in the gym, I was putting the same amount of work into the mental side of things too. Last year was difficult and, you know, I'm a human being. You naturally just start to question things and you start getting worried about different things and different facets of your life. - Thatcher Demko"

"I've always wanted to be here. We've had some tough times, for sure, as a team the last handful of years. There's been some great times, but there's been some struggle at times.

But for me, I was drafted here and I feel an immense responsibility to give everything I can to get this team to where it wants to go.

I know the culture is kind of shifting (in the NHL) as far as, you know, the players have more rights and are able to maybe demand certain things or ask for trades or get out of contracts and things like that. But for me, you know, I consider myself a pretty loyal guy. And after what we went through last year, I wanted to be part of the solution, as opposed to kind of running from the adversity.

I've been incredibly lucky to be here for as long as I have. And to your point of maybe waiting another year and getting more money, it's never been a money thing for me. I saw this as an opportunity to kind of tell the rest of the league that guys are still committed to being here."