Canucks Add Goalie Insurance After Thatcher Demko’s Update
The Vancouver Canucks have added goaltending depth to their net by signing Kevin Lankinen to a one-year contract worth $875,000 for the 2024–25 season.
The deal was announced by GM Patrik Allvin on Saturday and offers Vancouver a vital safety net as starting goaltender Thatcher Demko continues his recovery with no set timeline for his return.
Lankinen, 29, brings four seasons of NHL experience to the Canucks. Over his career, he has built a reputation as a solid and dependable backup, but he's far from an optimal starter all things considered.
During the 2023-24 season, playing for the Nashville Predators, Lankinen posted an 11-6-8 record in 24 games, with a 2.82 goals-against average (GAA) and a .908 save percentage (SV%), adding one shutout to his stat sheet.
The Finnish netminder began his NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020, and across 112 career NHL games, he holds a 45-43-12 record, a 3.07 GAA, a .905 SV%, and three shutouts.
Lankinen now joins Arturs Silovs as the two listed netminders on Vancouver's NHL roster, providing much-needed stability while Demko remains out.
The Canucks, however, expect Demko to recover as quickly as possible to start on net as soon as his health allows him to. The 28-year-old goalie had an update regarding his situation following Thursday's practice.
"I would say it hasn't been linear," Demko said to reporters about his recovery, via TSN's Farhan Lalji . "There's a lack of research. I don't know too much about what this looks like full picture at the end of the process."
Demko is coming off a season that saw him miss the majority of March with a knee issue before he was limited to just one postseason game before calling it a year.
When healthy, however, Demko is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. He just finished second in the 2024 Vezina Trophy voting after going 35-14-2 with a 2.45 goals-against average (GAA), .918 save percentage (SV%), and five shutouts in 51 regular-season appearances with Vancouver.
Related: Report: Canucks' Thatcher Demko Dealing With Career-Altering InjuryThis story was originally published September 22, 2024, 5:30 AM.
