The Vancouver Canucks didn't act like a team in desperate need of a goaltender.
When Thatcher Demko "hit a wall" in his injury rehab during the offseason, the Canucks could have panicked. They could have made a trade or thrown money at a free agent to ensure they had a veteran goaltender in their net and weren't relying entirely on rookie goaltenders with limited NHL experience.
Instead, the Canucks were patient, even to the point of entering training camp without adding another goaltender beyond Dylan Ferguson on a PTO. That lack of panic paid off.
The best free-agent goaltender still available was Kevin Lankinen, who has 112 NHL games under his belt, including a couple of solid seasons as Juuse Saros's backup with the Nashville Predators. The Canucks showed clear interest in Lankinen but weren't willing to meet his asking price, as Lankinen was coming off a contract with a $2 million cap hit and had done enough, in theory, to earn a similar amount of money on his next deal.
The Canucks didn't want to go that high, however, as that would have required the Canucks to put Tucker Poolman on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), which would have affected their ability to accrue cap space throughout the coming season.
Instead, the Canucks kept their offer at under $1 million and waited Lankinen out. When no other teams came calling with better offers and with the preseason fast approaching, Lankinen took the deal.
On Saturday, the Canucks signed Lankinen to a one-year contract with a cap hit of $875,000.
“Kevin is an experienced NHL player who will add to our depth in goal,” said general manager Patrik Allvin. “He had a solid season last year in Nashville and has the size and skillset we like in a netminder. We look forward to getting him here to start working with our group.”
That's a fantastic deal for the Canucks, as Lankinen's cap hit is only $25,000 more than rookie Arturs Silovs. Once Demko returns, there will be little difference in terms of the salary cap which of the two goaltenders gets sent down to the AHL to play for the Abbotsford Canucks — likely Silovs, as he's still exempt from waivers.
The Canucks will likely still need to go with a 22-man roster to start the season to avoid LTIR but that's doable, especially with the farm team just down the road in Abbotsford.
As for Lankinen, his gamble of going to free agency instead of re-signing in Nashville didn't pay off but he still lands on a Canucks team with a strong defensive system and a big opportunity to play a decent number of games, especially if Demko's health remains in question.
The Canucks have been positive about Demko's progress in recent weeks and he's been going through regular on-ice workouts ahead of the Canucks' practices at training camp. But Demko was clear that he wasn't going to put any pressure on himself with a definitive timeline, if one would even be possible with his "rare" and "unique" injury.
"I'm not going to sit here and give you a timeline because it might create some problems for me," said Demko on the first day of camp, adding, "I just kind of have one gear and that's just to go as hard as I can and try to get better every day. I'm just learning there's different ways to get better and maintain your system of play and make sure that you stay sharp and, at the same time, taking care of your body."
The most likely scenario now is that Lankinen and Silovs will battle for starts until Demko returns.
The 6'2" Lankinen has a career .905 save percentage in the NHL, but that includes two seasons with a defensively suspect Chicago Blackhawks team. In his last two seasons with the Predators, the 29-year-old goaltender has a .912 save percentage with one shutout.
