The Vancouver Canucks missed out on their opportunity to bring in Yaroslav Askarov through a trade with the Nashville Predators while needing not only a goalie this season, but potentially for the future. This shouldn’t stop their pursuit of a goalie that has formerly played for the Predators though.
While Juuse Saros and Scott Wedgewood man the crease for the next two seasons in Nashville, Kevin Lankinen, the Predators’ backup for the last two seasons, is still a free agent and looking for a team.
There seemed to be this hope that by leaving Nashville and getting out from behind Saros’ shadow, Lankinen may be able to start more games. That only works if he is playing for a team. At this point, any team that shows interest in him and provides him with an opportunity to play some games in the NHL is a win.
Related: Nashville Predators: How Good is Each Returning Prospect in the Askarov Trade?
The Canucks may be one of the last team’s that can provide that given the uncertainty around Thatcher Demko’s injury heading into the season. He isn’t expected to be healthy by the start of the preseason, and that could easily leak into the season. The Canucks can’t go into a season in which expectations are as high as they have been in a number of years with only a rookie goalie who has 19 total career starts in the NHL (regular season and playoff combined) and less than a .900 SV%.
Lankinen has over 100 career starts over four seasons, has served as a 1A in Chicago in his rookie season, has a .905 career SV% and a .912 SV% over the past two seasons as the backup for the Predators. As far as options go, Lankinen’s best bet is to change sides from last season’s first round matchup between the Predators and Canucks.
Demko’s health is a concern, more than just if he’s available to start the 2024-25 season. If he misses time during the season or the playoffs again, there has to be options. I’m not saying that the reason Vancouver lost in the second round was from goaltending, but with a fallback option and more experience, Vancouver wouldn’t have to worry as much heading into the year.
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