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Canucks Sign Kevin Lankinen To One-Year Deal

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The Canucks have been searching for some goalie depth for a while now with Kevin Lankinen being an early target.  While it took a while, the two sides have reached an agreement as the team announced (Twitter link) that the netminder has signed a one-year, $875K contract.

Vancouver made an offer to the 29-year-old last month, one that was below the $1MM mark as this contract is, but it was rejected with the belief that Lankinen was seeking more money.  However, with opportunities across the league largely dried up at this point, it appears he decided to take the guaranteed deal that was on the table.

Lankinen spent the last two years in Nashville, posting a 2.79 GAA and a .912 SV% in 43 games.  Those numbers were certainly above-average for a second-string option which makes it a bit surprising that a better offer didn’t materialize for him over the past couple of months.  For his career, he has a 3.07 GAA with a .895 SV% over four NHL seasons, the other two coming with Chicago.

Starting goaltender Thatcher Demko is still working his way back from a knee injury although he is making good progress in recent weeks.  That said, his availability for the start of the regular season remains in question.  That means that Lankinen will have an opportunity to battle Arturs Silovs for the starting role if Demko isn’t available on opening night.  If he is able to play, the two will try to secure the backup role.

Management made it known earlier this summer that their goal is to avoid using LTIR even though Tucker Poolman won’t play this season.  That’s particularly noteworthy as the team is now $694K over the cap with this signing per PuckPedia.  If Demko isn’t available on opening night, they’ll have to remove a skater from the roster to fit in Lankinen’s contract.  Meanwhile, one of him or Silovs will have to come off the roster once Demko is cleared to return.  That could work in Lankinen’s favor as Silovs has one more season of waiver exemption remaining which could give the veteran a leg up on securing a full-time spot.

Either way, while it took longer than they would have liked, Vancouver now has the goaltending insurance that they’d been seeking for most of the summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Blueger, Gridin, Blackhawks

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Vancouver Canucks center Teddy Blueger made an appearance at training camp today (as per Noah Strang of the Daily Hive). The 30-year-old wore a no-contact jersey today after undergoing minor surgery recently to repair a lower-body injury. Blueger wasn’t listed on the team’s camp roster but appears to be ramping up to become a full participant.

Blueger had a good first year in Vancouver last year, dressing in 68 games and matching a career-high with 28 points. The former Stanley Cup champion has never offered a ton offensively but is more than serviceable in a bottom-six role and will be a welcome addition for the Canucks when he gets back to full health.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Calgary Flames prospect Matvei Gridin was involved in a QMJHL trade today as he was dealt by the Val-d’Or Foreurs to the Shawinigan Cataractes (as per team release). The move has been rumored for quite some time since the CHL annual Import Draft in July. Gridin had yet to come to an agreement with Val-d’Or on his QMJHL Scholarship and Development Agreement and was not part of the team’s training camp. Calgary selected Gridin with the 28th overall pick in this year’s NHL entry draft and has unusual eligibility this season because he was drafted out of the USHL and never played a CHL game. Gridin can start the season in the NHL, AHL or CHL.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks aren’t expected to make the playoffs this season but there is pressure on the team this season to look like a structured NHL team once again (as per Mark Lazerus of The Athletic). The Blackhawks haven’t won a playoff series since 2015 and won’t likely win one this season, but the expectations are that the team will be competitive and superstar Connor Bedard will take the next step towards being a megastar. On top of that, there will be pressure on third-year head coach Luke Richardson who finally has an NHL lineup to coach and will be expected to implement a system and structure that utilizes the talent that the team has brought in over the last two summers.

Pacific Notes: Lehner, Poolman, Kassian

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The Vegas Golden Knights are exploring all options, including contract termination, after goaltender Robin Lehner failed to attend the contractually mandatory pre-season medical exam ahead of training camp, shares Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. The exam was necessary to confirm Lehner’s medical ineligibility for next season. Seravalli adds that Vegas has been in contact with the NHL and NHL Players’ Association on how to reasonably handle the manner, considering Lehner hasn’t played in over two years. His last game came on April 20, 2022, with his career ended by a hip injury, though Lehner also faced multiple concussions.

Lehner was three years into a five-year, $25MM contract when he stepped away from the game, with the last season slated for the upcoming 2024-25. He only played in 99 games on the contract – spending a third with the Chicago Blackhawks – but he was accomplished when he played, recording 55 wins and a .913 save percentage. Lehner took home the William M Jennings Trophy twice in his career, the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2019, and ranked in the top six of Vezina Trophy voting every year between 2018 and 2020. The achievements spanned a 12-year, 364-game tenure in the NHL.

Other notes from out West:

  • Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced that defender Tucker Poolman won’t play this season, per Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650. Poolman hasn’t played since the 2022-23 season, when his career was ended by chronic migraines. He played in three games and scored one assist that year, marking the fifth NHL season Poolman took part in, though he only managed to play in a majority of his team’s games once. That came in the 2019-20 season, when Poolman played in 57 games and scored 16 points with the Winnipeg Jets. He worked his way up to second-pair ice time for parts of that season, but ultimately couldn’t stick in the lineup through repeat injuries. His career ended at 163 games and 17 points – still impressive numbers for a fifth-round pick out of the 2013 NHL Draft.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have hired the recently-retired Zack Kassian as a pro scout, per NHL.com’s Jim Matheson. Kassian spent 12 years in the NHL, seven being served in Edmonton. He was never much of a scorer, but fought his way into a middle-six role as the hardnosed and gritty presence to back Edmonton’s finesse players. He even worked into occasional power-play usage – despite a career-high of just 34 points – thanks to his ability to body opponents out of shooting lanes. Kassian’s career ended with 661 games and 203 points. He’ll now look to translate that experience to the hockey ops side of house, supporting a Oilers scouting room that recently departed with longtime pro scout and assistant general manager Brad Holland.

Canucks To Start Camp Without Teddy Blueger, Cole McWard

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The Vancouver Canucks will begin training camp without forward Teddy Blueger and defenseman Cole McWard after both underwent minor, lower-body surgery – general manager Patrik Allvin shared with The Athletic’s Thomas Drance. The two will join forward Dakota Joshua and goaltender Thatcher Demko in working to recover from lower-body injuries before camp ends.

Blueger, 30, will stand as the biggest missing piece, having played 68 games with the Canucks last season. It was his first year in Vancouver and he used it to good effect, tying his career-high of 28 points while making the second-most appearances of any one season. The stout year succeeded a 2022-23 campaign to remember for Blueger. He started the year with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he spent the first five years of his career, but a Trade Deadline move landed Blueger on the Vegas Golden Knights. He’d proceed to slot into 24 games with Vegas, between the regular and post-seasons, serving a depth role as the team ran to the first Stanley Cup win of their young history. That was Blueger’s first chance to get his name etched on the Cup, having spent the years of  Pittsburgh’s back-to-back Cup wins in the minor leagues.

McWard, 23, is on the other end of his career, just completing his first season after joining Vancouver as an undrafted free agent in 2023. He’s been awarded six NHL games to this point, scoring one goal, though he spent the majority of this season with the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks. McWard managed 17 points in 57 games with the junior Canucks, ranking fourth among the team’s defenders in scoring.

The training camp absence will hinder both – as Blueger looks to fend off competition for his fourth-line role, and McWard looks to claim one of the open spots on Vancouver’s blue-line. The pair’s injuries could give a boost to players like Kiefer Sherwood and Noah Juulsen, or even open more room for Sammy Blais as he tries to vindicate a professional try-out agreement. All three will battle for quaint roles in the lineup, but could end up pivotal pieces as Vancouver eyes another berth into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

No Pending Extension Talks Between Canucks And Tocchet

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  • After a surprise showing last season that saw the Canucks sit atop the Pacific Division, some wondered if they’d look to work out an extension with head coach Rick Tocchet. However, GM Patrik Allvin told Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre that with the team holding a club option on his contract for 2025-26, it’s too early to begin those talks just yet, noting they’ll get into those discussions when the time is right for both sides.  Vancouver has a 70-35-13 record under Tocchet so far, good for a .648 points percentage.

Canucks’ Alexander Edler Announces Retirement

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The Vancouver Canucks have announced that they’ll sign defenseman Alexander Edler to a one-day contract on October 11th, allowing him to retire in the city he spent 15 seasons in. Edler is a veteran of 1,030 NHL games, spending all but 105 of those in a Canucks jersey.

Edler holds a case as the draft day steal of 2004, originally going in the third round but since totaling the seventh-most NHL games of anyone in the class. He earned a top-pair role in Vancouver as a rookie in 2007, immediately flashing reliable two-way play and modest scoring. He’d become known for his consistency, emerging as one of Vancouver’s most utilized defenders through the bulk of the  Sedin era and routinely challenging the 35-point mark. Edler’s career year came in the 2011-12 season, when he tallied 11 goals, 38 assists, and 49 points in 82 games – career-highs in all four stats, and the only time that Edler played in a full season. His 409 points in 925 games with Vancouver both rank as all-time highs among Canucks defenders.

Edler continued playing over 20 minutes a night through his final season in Vancouver in 2021. But the addition of superstar Quinn Hughes challenged Edler’s role, leading him to sign with the Los Angeles Kings, where he’d close his career on a pair of one-year contracts. His scoring took a hit in his final years – falling from a per-game average of 0.44 points in Vancouver (409 points in 925 games) to just 0.29 in Los Angeles (30 points in 105 games). He was one of only a few 2004 draft picks still playing in the NHL last season, joining Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Blake Wheeler, and Alex Goligoski.

The Canucks will honor their longtime top-defender with a pre-game ceremony during their October 11th matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Canucks’ Dakota Joshua To Miss Start Of Camp After Surgery

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Vancouver Canucks forward Dakota Joshua has announced that he won’t be healthy for the start of training camp, after undergoing surgery to address a cancerous lump earlier this summer.

The top concern will be Joshua’s health, though a strong lineup role could await him when he returns. He clawed his way up Vancouver’s depth chart last season, scoring a career-high 18 goals and 32 points in 63 games – an 82-game pace of 42 points. He made an even bigger impact in the postseason, adding eight points and 74 hits in 13 games. Joshua became the go-to option when Vancouver’s stars weren’t on the ice. The Canucks put a price to their faith in him this summer, signing Joshua to a four-year, $13MM extension.

Joshua was drafted by Toronto in the fifth-round of the 2014 NHL Draft. He’d go onto serve a key role with the 2015 USHL Clark Cup-winning Sioux Falls Stampede, before a full four-year career at The Ohio State University. By the time he had graduated, much of Toronto’s front office had been overturned, leading the Leafs to deal Joshua to the St. Louis Blues for future considerations in 2019. He made his NHL debut one year later, fighting into 12 games on St. Louis’ fourth line. It wasn’t until his breakout year last season that Joshua finally earned a taste of top-nine minutes. He’ll look to continue in that role next season, finally planting his feet a the top level after a long path to the NHL.

Canucks Sign Dylan Ferguson To PTO Deal

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The Canucks have been looking for some goaltending insurance with Thatcher Demko’s lingering injury.  They’ve found an extra netminder for training camp as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed Dylan Ferguson to a PTO agreement.

The 25-year-old spent last season in the KHL after being non-tendered last summer.  He played in 23 games with Dinamo Minsk, posting a 9-9-0 record along with a 2.51 GAA and a .904 SV%, putting him 30th and 46th respectively in those categories.

Ferguson has three career NHL appearances under his belt, one with Vegas in their inaugural season and two with Ottawa in the 2022-23 campaign.  In between those outings, he has spent parts of four seasons in the minors but played only sparingly due to injuries, getting into just 29 games overall where he put up a 2.56 GAA and a .915 SV%.

As things stand, Arturs Silovs is set to serve as the starter in Demko’s absence with free agent signing Jiri Patera – formerly Ferguson’s teammate in Vegas – operating as the backup.  That could give Ferguson a chance to battle for minutes with Nikita Tolopilo and Ty Young who are both on their entry-level deals.  While it seems unlikely that Ferguson would get an NHL deal at this time, if he does, he can be controlled through the 2025-26 season.

Tocchet: No Timeline For Demko's Return But Making Progress

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  • The Canucks don’t have a target date in mind for Thatcher Demko to return from his knee injury, head coach Rick Tocchet told Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. However, the bench boss acknowledged that the netminder is excited about how his recovery is progressing and that he has been improving over the past two to three weeks which is certainly a positive sign.  Vancouver has been looking at free agents to see if there’s a viable option to bring in as insurance but as of yet, they haven’t been able to reach an agreement with one.  Arturs Silovs, who took over the starting job in the playoffs, is in line to open the season as Vancouver’s starter assuming Demko won’t be ready to play by then.

Canucks Have Offered Kevin Lankinen A Contract

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In recent weeks, the Canucks have been offering PTO deals to some veteran goalies as some insurance with Thatcher Demko’s health still in some question.  After being unable to get either Kevin Lankinen or Antti Raanta to agree to a tryout, they’ve now gone a step further.  Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Vancouver has made a one-year full contract offer to Lankinen.  However, the offer was believed to be for less than $1MM, a price tag he doesn’t appear to be willing to accept at this time.

The 29-year-old made $2MM last season in Nashville so Vancouver’s offer would certainly represent a sizable pay cut.  However, the Canucks have less than $200K in cap space per PuckPedia and have made it known that they don’t want to go into using LTIR.  Accordingly, even to make that offer work, they’d have to drop a skater off their roster to be able to afford Lankinen, effectively having to carry three goalies heading into the season if Demko isn’t able to play.

Lankinen spent the last two years with the Predators and put up solid numbers overall, posting a 2.79 GAA and a .912 SV% in 43 games over that span.  Those are certainly above-average for a second-string option which is likely why his camp has been holding out in the hopes of landing a more substantial offer.  However, barring an injury of some significance, most teams have their goaltending set so that better offer might not materialize for a while yet if at all if he continues to wait.

The fact that the Canucks have opted to make a full offer to Lankinen would imply that they remain concerned about Demko’s recovery from a knee injury sustained early in the playoffs last spring.  If they felt he was on track to return on time or even a few games into the season, Vancouver could simply run with Arturs Silovs and new third-stringer Jiri Patera for a couple of weeks and get by that way.  Silovs had a good run in the playoffs and could easily handle the starting role for a handful of games early on.

But if they feel their best option now is to get someone on a full-season deal, it would seem as if there is at least the potential for Demko’s recovery period to drag out even longer.  That type of uncertainty is hardly ideal with training camps now less than a week away.  Whether that will push them to up their offer or if they’ll hold out hope that Lankinen will have a change of heart and accept their most recent offer remains to be seen.

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