I’m not so sure it marks any difference to Demko’s injury status so much as Lankinin caved. Demko was probably always likely to miss games and then need a slow reintroduction - if at all. The injury is apparently unprecedented so who knows. Canucks weren’t willing to go into LTIR to address that risk and Lankinen caved; credit to Alvin.
Canucks probably promised Lankenin that they would trade him if and when Demko was healthy and he wouldn’t have to be in a long term three headed rotation with Silovs. There will be teams looking for goalies after injuries in the season. In the meantime, Lankinen needs NHL action, which he will get with Vancouver.