According to Donnie & Dhali’s Rick Dhaliwal, the Vancouver Canucks recently offered goaltender Kevin Lankinen a contract extension, which he rejected.
Dhaliwal shared the news on X (formerly Twitter) and further elaborated on Donnie & Dhali:
“The Canucks were very aggressive in the first week of January, trying to sign Lankinen. They made what sources say, a very solid offer, term and money. Some say the offer was over $3 million a year. It was rejected. At that time, agent Todd Diamond wanted to see what the salary cap would be this summer. He’s got that number. Now, talks have been pretty quiet.
“Here’s some contracts I want you to look at. Logan Thompson, $5.8 million a year, Mackenzie Blackwood, $5.2 [million], Joey decor, $5.2 [million], Ukko-Pekka Lukkonnen, $4.7 [million]. Where does Lankinen belong in that group? I’m saying that there’s been some goalie sign this year that have changed the goalie market. Outside of Blackwood, all have similar games played experience.
“Here’s the key [Thatcher] Demko, four injuries in a year. The Canucks cannot go cheap with the backup goalie position next year, Donnie, they got to spend money. They’re clearly going to have to go outside of their comfort zone to sign Lankinen.
“My feeling is it’s going to be hard to resign Lankinen, and if the final number is not more in line with those recent deals I just talked about.
“But I get the Canucks credit here. January 1 was when you could sign Lankinen. They got to him right away and made a good offer.
“But I will say this, the Canucks absolutely love Lankinen. He is well liked with his teammates, Rick Tocchet loves him. The goalie coach [Marko Torenius] is his goalie coach in Finland. So everything fits. Everything fits in Vancouver, for Lankin, but it looks like, right now, there’s a gap in the money.”
Lankinen signed with the Canucks late into September, inking a one-year $875,000 contract. The undrafted netminder has enjoyed his best season as a professional in Vancouver, holding a 19-8-7 record with a 2.53 goals against average (GAA) and a .905 save percentage (S%), adding four shutouts.
The 29-year-old’s strong season earned him an opportunity to represent his country at the 4 Nations Face-off for Team Finland. Lankinen started the tournament backing up Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros. However, after his former teammate blundered in the third period against Team USA – allowing three goals in the first three minutes of the final frame and four goals in total – Lankinen was given the starter’s crease for the following game.
The Finnish netminder stopped 21 of 24 shots he faced en route to his Nation’s first win at the tournament, defeating their rivals, Team Sweden, 4-3 in overtime. His efforts earned him another start in a win-and-in game against Team Canada. Lankinen allowed the first four goals in the game and was pulled after Nathan MacKinnon’s second goal just over five minutes into the second period.
The Canucks will need a strong end-of-the-season from Lankinen as the team pushes for the playoffs down the stretch, especially with the recent Thatcher Demko injury.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin will have a decision to make on whether they sign Lankinen to a contract extension or, if they can’t come close to terms, consider trading him before the March 7 trade deadline.
Vancouver returns to action on February 22 when the team travels to Vegas for a date with the Golden Knights.