Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko and forward Conor Garland both signed extensions, the team announced Tuesday.
Demko is entering the final season of a five-year deal that has seen him earn $5 million annually whereas his new contract, which will start in the 2026-27 season, will see him make $8.5 million annually.
As for Garland, he is also entering the final season of his current contract. Garland was on a five-year deal that saw him earn $4.95 million annually. With his new contract, he will see that figure increase to $6 million per year.
Even though the Canucks still had runway to get those deals done later this year, re-signing both before they can reach free agency provides stability to a team that now has seven players signed to contracts that are longer than three years.
PuckPedia projects that the Canucks still have $24.59 million in cap space after the 2025-26 season, which is also the same offseason in which recently acquired winger Evander Kane will be a pending unrestricted free agent.
Demko, who has spent his entire career with the Canucks, worked his way back from an injury he sustained in the 2023-24 season to appear in 29 games in 2024-25 that saw him go 10-8-3 with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage.
Garland, who came over in a trade from the Arizona Coyotes back in 2021, was one goal shy of tying his career high but still finished with 19 goals while his 50 points marked the second-strongest point total of his career.
Securing those deals comes on the same day the Canucks will seek to improve their roster with free agency starting at 9 a.m. PT/noon ET.
The Canucks, who have $7.031 million in remaining cap space after the signings, have a pair of UFAs in winger Brock Boeser and center Pius Suter, who could both potentially head elsewhere in a market in which they could be among the highest earners with many forwards coming off the board after agreeing to new deals with their current teams or with a new team after being traded.