The Canucks have been searching for some goalie depth for a while now with Kevin Lankinen being an early target. While it took a while, the two sides have reached an agreement as the team announced that the netminder has signed a one-year, $875K contract.
Vancouver made an offer to the 29-year-old last month, one that was below the $1M mark as this contract is, but it was rejected with the belief that Lankinen was seeking more money. However, with opportunities across the league largely dried up at this point, it appears he decided to take the guaranteed deal that was on the table.
Lankinen spent the last two years in Nashville, posting a 2.79 GAA and a .912 SV% in 43 games. Those numbers were certainly above-average for a second-string option which makes it a bit surprising that a better offer didn’t materialize for him over the past couple of months. For his career, he has a 3.07 GAA with a .895 SV% over four NHL seasons, the other two coming with Chicago.
Starting goaltender Thatcher Demko is still working his way back from a knee injury although he is making good progress in recent weeks. That said, his availability for the start of the regular season remains in question. That means that Lankinen will have an opportunity to battle Arturs Silovs for the starting role if Demko isn’t available on opening night. If he is able to play, the two will try to secure the backup role.
Management made it known earlier this summer that their goal is to avoid using LTIR even though Tucker Poolman won’t play this season. That’s particularly noteworthy as the team is now $694K over the cap with this signing per PuckPedia. If Demko isn’t available on opening night, they’ll have to remove a skater from the roster to fit in Lankinen’s contract. Meanwhile, one of him or Silovs will have to come off the roster once Demko is cleared to return. That could work in Lankinen’s favor as Silovs has one more season of waiver exemption remaining which could give the veteran a leg up on securing a full-time spot.
Either way, while it took longer than they would have liked, Vancouver now has the goaltending insurance that they’d been seeking for most of the summer.
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