Thatcher Demko admits he's had a hard time dealing with his struggles in the early stages of this campaign.

"I'm not doing as good a job as I know I can do," the Vancouver Canucks goaltender said, according to Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre. "It's something that as a teammate, as a competitor, you know, it kind of eats at you."

Demko is 1-7-2 with an .874 save percentage in 10 games this season. The San Diego-born netminder has saved minus-0.47 goals above expected and minus-1.74 goals above average at five-on-five in 2022-23, according to Evolving-Hockey. The latter two figures place him 38th and 46th in the NHL, respectively.

He's particularly unnerved by his performance so far considering how much work he did in the offseason.

"That's the most frustrating part, I think," Demko said. "If I was sitting around all summer not doing anything, then you can look at yourself (struggle) and be like, 'alright, well, that makes sense.' I think that's where some of the frustration comes. Putting the work in in the summer, putting the work in every day … (trying) to be one of the first guys that come to the rink. I'm in the gym all the time, working hard on the ice."