Canucks sign goalie Kevin Lankinen to back up Thatcher Demko

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After weeks of anxiety about their goalie situation, the Vancouver Canucks and free agent goalie Kevin Lankinen have agreed on a contract.

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With Thatcher Demko’s return to action still up in the air — the Canucks’ No. 1 goalie remains out with a muscle injury behind his left knee — the Canucks have opted to buttress their situation in goal.

And so they’ve turned to Lankinen, a solid performer as the backup in Nashville the last two years.

“We’re excited to have him. He picked our team because he likes the way we play. He told Patrik (Allvin) that. That’s nice to hear,” head coach Rick Tocchet said Saturday after the Canucks confirmed the signing.

“He’s a really good NHL goalie.”

Another factor in the signing: Lankinen has familiarity with newly minted goalie coach Marko Torenius.

They now have a top three of Demko, Lankinen and Arturs Silovs.

The contract is for one year at $875,000, a heck of a deal for the Canucks.

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Lankinen has been working hard off the ice in Finland as NHL camps started. But there’s no replacing getting NHL reps and so the Canucks will have been anxious to get him into the fold.

No doubt the goalie will be anxious to be ready to go for the start of the season.

He may have been watching to see what was going on around the league; other teams have stockpiled goalies and won’t be able to retain them all, while others, such as Anaheim and John Gibson, have goalies they’re looking to move on from.

In the end both sides have found a way to sign on the bottom line.

Now the Canucks have some roster choices to make. They are nearly $700,000 over the cap at the moment. Their options are: demote someone like Nils Aman or Phil Di Giuseppe, but both need waivers. You have to think the Canucks would be nervous about either getting claimed, make another trade, or put either Demko or Dakota Joshua — or Tucker Poolman, who is not going to play this season but is still on the final year of his contract — on long-term injured reserve in the interim.

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The Canucks’ hope this season is to not use LTIR and instead accrue space as the season progresses so they can add a top-end player at the deadline, but they may have no choice to open the year in this position.

When Demko returns, it’s likely Silovs will be the odd man out, destined for AHL Abbotsford.

But Tocchet told reporters he wasn’t sure.

“We’ll sort that out, how that will play out,” he said. “You’re adding to the strength of the goalie department. That’s really the first thing.”

On Friday, Silovs spoke of how much he learned last year as the Canucks’ starter in the playoffs after Demko and Casey DeSmith came down with injuries.

“I think it showed me how best hockey is played, and in the toughest situations,” he said. “There’s so much pressure all around, right? And everyone wants to win. Everyone’s scrambling, trying to do their best.

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“So I think that gave me a lot of confidence too, just being in the game, having good games, and having confidence and winning. And now I think it’s easier to get in with that experience under your belt.”

The addition of Lankinen means he’ll likely split the crease in the early season; Demko said on Thursday he has no timeline, but sources have suggested that he is likely to be ready to return by the end of October.

Silovs has faced plenty of challenges in his career and overcome them — he carried his national team to a best finish in 2023 and then last spring was outstanding for the Canucks. But this one is different, going from preparing himself to be leaned on heavily this season, to being in a position where the team has conveyed that the like this outside guy more.

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It’s surely going to be a big mental challenge for the lanky Latvian.

— with files from The Canadian Press

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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