Confirmed with Link: Canucks Re-Sign G Kevin Lankinen 5y/4.5AAV

[moiderer]

Contract is decent insurance for the rest of Quinn's current contract. Term is a little too long but cap inflation might make it easier to move if it goes south.

It's too early to say what happens with Demko but obviously you can't just roll the dice with his health. So here we are.

Maybe Silovs picks it back up or Ty Young keeps developing, but we definitely need a new anointed goalie by the end of those 5 years.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Move Demko, and pending physical, look at John Gibson to platoon with Lankinen?

Can you explain how this would help us this season because I'm having a hard time.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Made sense for this to get done:

1. Lankinen has played well.
2. Severe concerns over Demko's health
3. Limited FA options of note
4. No depth of substance in the AHL
5. Rising cap

 

[ExarKun80]

i thought he would get 25-30mil as a ufa and said the canucks would have to go longer on term to make the cap hit better. looks like they did, but demko is going to be a casualty of this

A 30 year old goalie with a 0.905 SV% over 100 NHL games was not getting 30 mil on the open market. Some people here act like he is some young goalie with room to develop.

To me it looks like management sees Demko as damaged goods.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

A 30 year old goalie with a 0.905 SV% over 100 NHL games was not getting 30 mil on the open market. Some people here act like he is some young goalie with room to develop.

As always, I believe the answer lies somewhere in the middle. It's a fair deal, that's about what I'd say about it.

 

[timw33]

A 30 year old goalie with a 0.905 SV% over 100 NHL games was not getting 30 mil on the open market. Some people here act like he is some young goalie with room to develop.

One thing to keep in mind is that .905 is now an above average save percent with how leaguewide rates have been declining. Like, an average NHL goalie is now .900, but I do agree. I think going more than 2-3 years is a scary bet for most goalies who aren't consistently top of the league.

But, our leverage was completely shot and going looking for a UFA replacement could have cost a similar amount, albiet with an entity you are unfamiliar with.

 

[Baby Pettersson]

God I love this signing. Good for both sides. Still have a year to evaluate Demko. This is also an easy contract to move if needed.

 

[clay]

Not a big fan of this one. He's played well enough for us this year, but too much money and term for a guy with backup numbers for his career.

 

[Hansen]

Good signing, we were simply never getting him on a 3x3-3.5 that was pie in the sky thinking

 

[TruGr1t]

Can you explain how this would help us this season because I'm having a hard time.

Gibson would be a 2025-2026 addition largely, you would have to hope Silovs can plug the gap until he's healthy, which is what they seem to be intending to do with Demko anyways.

 

[Bobby9]

500K more than I expected and 1 year longer.

I still think Demko receives very little interest after his contract is up and signs as the back up. 2 M is still 2 M. It's not like theirs another league in NA he can play in.

 

[JT Milker]

Demko must be toast.

Yuck to signing goalies long term based on 1 year but we really have no other choice with Demko being unreliable.

Let’s hope he outplays that contract! Lankyyy

Lankinen has been good for more than a year.

 

[vancityluongo]

glad we're keeping him, not too thrilled on the combo of term/cap hit. one or the other would have been fine, and is to be expected in the new cap environment, but this feels high for a guy who is really a 1b.

not convinced that we're moving demko, even though i've been banging the drum that they should for a long time now. $10m is going to be the going rate for an effective goalie tandem.

 

[StickShift]

5 years for 30yo goaltender is not great.

But I do understand why they did it. $4.5m for a 1A/1B tandem goaltender is already a bargain and will be a better deal as the cap goes up.

I also understand after seeing the Demko injuries occur at the worst time of the year for multiple seasons in a row why the Canucks would rather hedge towards a tandem setup instead of putting all of their eggs into one basket. They’d rather have at least two goaltenders they can turn to go on a run.

It also speaks to the state of the Canucks goaltending pipeline. Despite his Cinderella run last year, Silovs does not look like an NHL goaltender. No one else in the pipeline is exactly popping either.

For all the celebration of Ian Clark, he hasn’t exactly stocked the cupboard. Nor did he help our star goaltender work through his injuries.

This move kinda feels like an acknowledgement of the overall change in goaltending philosophy for the Canucks.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Gibson would be a 2025-2026 addition largely, you would have to hope Silovs can plug the gap until he's healthy, which is what they seem to be intending to do with Demko anyways.

Not a horrible target, but Gibby is 3 years older than Demko with much worse injury concerns that have plagued him for a longer time.

It's a lateral move for the same amount of risk, really. And a higher cap hit. There are better targets out there whose names carry less cache but are even better.

Who are they? I don't know. I believe Vejmelka is one. But with goalies I'd rather just pray over my tarot cards to tell the truth.

 

[Quinning]

glad we're keeping him, not too thrilled on the combo of term/cap hit. one or the other would have been fine, and is to be expected in the new cap environment, but this feels high for a guy who is really a 1b.

not convinced that we're moving demko, even though i've been banging the drum that they should for a long time now. $10m is going to be the going rate for an effective goalie tandem.

Demko is going to ask for $7 or $8 million per though, and I bet a desperate team (Edmonton) will go for it.

 

[Flik]

Had to be done, it sucks, but Demko just can't be relied upon.

Happy for Lankinen, he took a shot on himself and it paid off, he earned his bag.

This also has the added benefit of preventing a rival like Edmonton from snatching him up in the off season as well.

 

[vancityluongo]

Demko is going to ask for $7 or $8 million per though, and I bet a desperate team (Edmonton) will go for it.

meant moreso for next year but regardless, demko is going to struggle to get half of that if he cannot play at least 50 games next season

 

[SelltheTeamFrancesco]

I don’t love it personally but this isn’t Lank as just a one hit wonder his last two seasons in Nashville he was very good his numbers might have been better than this year. I think some of that is wear and tear as he was not used to playing a starters role.

 

[God]

You could do much worse in looking for a Demko replacement on the free agent market. I think, collectively, we've all seen Demko get injured in 6-7 different ways. He's the Sami Salo of goalies.

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

It also speaks to the state of the Canucks goaltending pipeline. Despite his Cinderella run last year, Silovs does not look like an NHL goaltender. No one else in the pipeline is exactly popping either.

For all the celebration of Ian Clark, he hasn’t exactly stocked the cupboard. Nor did he help our star goaltender work through his injuries.

This move kinda feels like an acknowledgement of the overall change in goaltending philosophy for the Canucks.

We had such a lucky period when it came to goaltenders over the span of 19 years. Turned Bertuzzi into Luongo. Somehow lucked into getting Markstrom for a 35 year old Luongo who wanted out then had his successor in Demko get drafted a year later.

It's the end of the line. Ian Clark cannot do a damn thing to save us as there's nothing of value in the pipeline.

This is life for most NHL teams who either have to overpay for project guys or pay up the ass for a UFA with an unproven history.

 

[Treefingers]

Don't love the term, but happy to have Lankinen locked up. I still think that it would be foolish to trade Demko though. He's the better goalie and I don't trust the Lankinen can handle a full starter load. Having them as a 1A/1B would be ideal (not cap-wise, of course, but here we are).

 

[Vector]

You could do much worse in looking for a Demko replacement on the free agent market. I think, collectively, we've all seen Demko get injured in 6-7 different ways. He's the Sami Salo of goalies.

How dare you. Salo never needed to ramp back up. He would step into a line-up like he never missed a game or training camp.

 

[Josepho]

We're playing at an 108 point pace with him as the starter. This is probably fine for the next 3 years or so.