Vancouver Canucks fans were left worried after news reports broke in August about Thatcher Demko and Artūrs Šilovs both potentially being injured to start the regular season. While Šilovs’s injury was not as bad as it was initially expected to be, the team would have been much worse off if they’d been forced to start him for the first two months of the season. Despite proving himself in the playoffs, the workload he would have faced in October and November would have tired him out quickly. In a calculated, patient move, management turned around and signed former Nashville Predators goaltender Kevin Lankinen to a one-year deal at a shocking $875,000 value.
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The 29-year-old went undrafted early on in his career, inking his first NHL contract with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018. However, he didn’t play a game for them until January 19, 2021, when his team took on the Florida Panthers and lost 5–4 in overtime. Lankinen made 25 saves in the defeat. In his first NHL season, he started 37 games, winning 17 of them. The season after, and his last with Chicago, he played in 32 of the team’s games and won eight of them.
Lankinen went to free agency after his stint with the Blackhawks, with the Predators stepping up and giving him a home for the next two seasons. He served as a reliable backup to Nashville’s Juuse Saros, playing in 19 and 24 games for the Predators in 2022–23 and 2023–24 respectively. Over that span of time, he collected 20 wins.
After signing with Vancouver on September 21, fans expected that Lankinen would provide security for a young Šilovs, with both goaltenders possibly sharing the spot as the starter. However, it was clear early on that Lankinen was the guy that the Canucks needed. Since first putting on the Canucks’ green and blue, Lankinen has posted four shutouts, won 16 matches, and set a new NHL record by becoming the first goaltender in history to win their first 10 road games of the season. But how did he get to this point?
“I mostly just trust in my own process,” Lankinen said. “I’ve been working extremely hard at preparing for…