On yesterday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal discussed the possibility of Vancouver bringing in another goalie before the Canucks’ training camp kicks off in Penticton next Thursday.
The discussion stems from the lingering Thatcher Demko injury situation. We have yet to hear an update from the team regarding his status, but the last thing we heard was that he won’t be a full participant at training camp—if he participates at all. This raises several questions and concerns for the team gearing up for the 2024 season; among them: is there enough depth in the goalie room to rely on until Demko’s return? Quads doesn’t think so, saying he believes Vancouver’s front office will make a move to bring someone in.
“I think it’s going to be either Kevin Lankinen or Antti Raanta—two Finnish guys, and you want that added spirit of competition,” he said. “Antti Raanta already has a relationship with Rick Tocchet from their Arizona days; Raanta on a PTO certainly doesn’t hurt, but make no mistake—plan A is Kevin Lankinen, who is a legitimately great NHL backup.”
“I’m curious how much incentive there would be to bring a guy in on a PTO just for the sake of making numbers easier for training camp and ensuring each group has NHL-calibre goalies to shoot on,” Harm questioned, noting the impact Demko’s absence at training camp could have on the preparation of the rest of the team.
The conversation focused on Kevin Lankinen, who spent the last two years backing up Juuse Saros in Nashville, posting a 0.912 save percentage in 43 games with the club.
“Training camps are next week, and I’m really starting to wonder if this is another Daniel Sprong situation—where he and his agent maybe thought the interest would be higher heading into July 1st. So, like Sprong, Lankinen could be looking for a good situation to prove himself to the league before hitting the market again,” Quads said. “The Canucks made an offer to Lankinen, but apparently, it was too low. I looked around the NHL trying to identify where the fit would be for Lankinen, and I’ve narrowed it down to six teams, with three being long shots. Buffalo, who has Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi—maybe they want Levi to get more AHL experience and bring in a good backup to put pressure on UPL. The Flames are another one—Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar; you want Wolf to take that next step, and the Flames aren’t going to be very good this year, so for Lankinen, Calgary doesn’t make much sense. Edmonton—Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard—that would be a good situation for Lankinen, where he could be not just a backup but a 1B. Then, the favourites in my view: the Philadelphia Flyers—their goaltending situation is a mess. They’re going to try to compete; they were on the doorstep last year.”
Lankinen’s stats are impressive, which begs the question: why hasn’t he signed with a team this late in the offseason?
“The longer this drags out, the more I’m thinking that there aren’t many appealing destinations, and Vancouver could become more attractive,” said Harm. “Sure, you may not have as much of a guaranteed opportunity, but the benefit of Vancouver is you’re practically guaranteed an elite defensive environment, which is going to boost your win totals and save percentage. Your numbers will look nicer, whereas in Philly, maybe you have more opportunity, but that Flyers blue line is not very good. You could get left out to dry and head into free agency next summer with an .890 save percentage.”
You can watch the full replay of the show below:
Sponsored by bet365
