It’s been a few years since the Vancouver Canucks had a juicy goalie controversy.
More than a decade ago, the battle for starts between Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider was so epic that the pair finally went toe-to-toe in a memorable TSN feature video.
Later, Jacob Markstrom and Thatcher Demko remained best buddies even while Demko pushed for a bigger role. In 2020, Markstrom left for Calgary as a free agent, and both players grew into Vezina Trophy finalists.
While Demko has ruled the roost for the past four years, Kevin Lankinen made it clear this week that he’s in Vancouver to stay. On Friday, the 29-year-old inked a five-year contract extension with a cap hit of $4.5 million. That’s eye-popping money for a career backup who didn’t play his first NHL game until 2021 and has never made more than $2 million.
Last September, Lankinen joined the Canucks on a one-year deal at just $875,000. He signed two days after training camp started when it was clear to all observers that Demko’s lingering knee injury would keep him sidelined for a while.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Lankinen admitted that he’d turned down other offers and come to Vancouver because he saw what might be a once-in-a-career opportunity to level up, as he knocks on the door of his 30s.
“I felt like, when we started talking with Vancouver, there was really something there,” he said. “So I, kind of, left the safe and the familiar behind me and stepped into the unknown. And made sure that the preparation is there and whatever opportunity shows up, I’m going to be ready for it.”
Then, he did just that. By the time Demko was ready for action on Dec. 10, Lankinen had appeared in 20 of Vancouver’s 26 games and amassed a record of 13-4-3, with a .908 save percentage.
Since then, he’s gone 6-5-4. Other than Quinn Hughes, he has been Vancouver’s most valuable player and kept the team in the playoff hunt while playing the best hockey of his career. His 19 wins are a personal NHL career high, and he’s two games away from matching his career high of 37 games played with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020-21.
Lankinen also stepped in admirably for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off, appearing in two games and backstopping his team’s 4-3 overtime win over Sweden. And while he wasn’t able to help the Canucks pick up two points in their return to action in Vegas on Saturday night, he did save more than two goals above expected and give his team a chance to win before Tomas Hertl sealed away the Golden Knights’ 3-1 win with a last-minute empty-netter.
Lankinen’s new contract is the third deal the Canucks have finalized this month, after they extended new additions Marcus Pettersson (six years) and Drew O’Connor (two years).
With Demko now out week-to-week with what’s said to be a new lower-body injury after he pulled himself out of the Canucks’ last game before the 4 Nations break, Lankinen and his representatives had plenty of leverage in their negotiations.
On top of significant compensation and a five-year term, Lankinen also received no-move protection for the first two seasons of the deal, and partial no-trade protection for the final three years. The Canucks have essentially promised that Lankinen won’t be traded without his permission any sooner than July 1, 2027.
Demko’s current deal expires in the summer of 2026. He could sign an extension this summer but with Lankinen now locked up, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team take a wait-and-see approach, especially as health concerns continue to crop up.
But like we saw with Luongo and Schneider, and with Markstrom and Demko, Lankinen’s relationship with Demko is also strong — even if there is only one net.
“That’s just been great,” Lankinen said. “Obviously, he’s been dealing with his own stuff, which can be really hard mentally, but he’s been super supportive ever since Day 1. He was one of the first guys to text me when they announced the contract, which kind of shows he’s a class act.”
As fans have seen in the past, having two goalies vying for top spot can bring out the best in everyone — for a while, anyway.
“Being able to work with him — he’s one of the best goalies in the world,” Lankinen said. “He showed that over the years, and just seeing him from a close range and being able to learn from him has been awesome. I think moving forward, it’s a good thing for Thatcher and a good thing for me, too. We’re going to push each other to get better, and I think that will help the team win in the long term.”
In the short term, the Canucks have four games remaining on their current road trip, which includes two back-to-back sets. Though Arturs Silovs has struggled to recreate his magical performance from last spring’s playoffs at the NHL level, he has been decent with AHL Abbotsford, putting up a 10-4-0 record.
Will Silovs get his first NHL start since November this week? The Canucks will play in Utah on Sunday, then visit the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday and the surging Anaheim Ducks on Thursday before wrapping up their road trip in Seattle next Saturday.
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