Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen was selected by Team Finland for the inaugural 4 Nations Faceoff in February 2025. Lankinen joins just Quinn Hughes as the lone two Canucks representing their country, with Team Sweden announcing their roster later this afternoon and Team Canada and Team USA announcing their rosters on December 5.
Players like Elias Pettersson are a consideration for Team Sweden, while JT Miller, Brock Boeser and Thatcher Demko are a consideration for Team USA.
Lankinen joins goaltenders Juuse Saros* (Nashville Predators) and Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres).
In front of the goaltenders, we’ll see defenceman Miro Heiskanen* (Dallas Stars), Esa Lindell* (Dallas Stars), Jani Hakanpää (Toronto Maple Leafs), Niko Mikkola (Florida Panthers), Olli Määttä (Utah Hockey Club), Rasmus Ristolainen (Philadelphia Flyers), and Juuso Välimäki (Utah Hockey Club).
Team Finland’s forward corps will be Aleksander Barkov* (Florida Panthers), Mikko Rantanen* (Colorado Avalanche), Sebastian Aho* (Carolina Hurricanes), Joel Armia (Montreal Canadiens), Mikael Granlund (San Jose Sharks), Erik Haula (New Jersey Devils), Roope Hintz (Dallas Stars), Kaapo Kakko (New York Rangers), Patrik Laine (Montreal Canadiens), Artturi Lehkonen (Colorado Avalanche), Anton Lundell (Florida Panthers), Eetu Luostarinen (Florida Panthers), Tuevo Teräväinen (Chicago Blackhawks).
*players who were selected back in June as part of Team Finland’s six preliminary selections.
The 29-year-old netminder is having the best season of his career, boasting a 12-3-3 record, a 2.66 goals against average (GAA) and a .906% save percentage (S%) with two shutouts on the season. Lankinen signed a one-year $875,000 contract with the Canucks on September 21, just 18 days before Vancouver kicked off their season.
Lankinen went undrafted but signed a two-year $1.85 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018. He would spend the following two seasons between the Blackhawks AHL affiliate Rockford IceHogs and their ECHL affiliate, the Indy Fuel. In the AHL, Lankinen had a 15-22-2 record with a 2.77 GAA and a .910% S%. He then re-upped in Chicago, signing another two-year extension for $1.6 million. But this time, he got his shot in the NHL.
After the call-up in 2020, he recorded a 25-29-11, with a 3.26 GAA and a .900% S%, with two shutouts. He then signed back-to-back one-year deals in Nashville, making $1.5 million and $2 million, respectively. In Nashville – as Saros’ backup – is where he blossomed, recording a 20-14-6 record, 2.79 GAA and a .912% S%.
Lankinen will now have another opportunity to play behind Saros, but this time, he’s representing his country, Team Finland, at the 4 Nations Faceoff.
Stay tuned for more announcements as the other four teams start to announce their rosters.