Vancouver Canucks add yet another goalie on Saturday.
The Vancouver Canucks have been loading up at the goaltending position, and on Saturday they added another.
The Vancouver Canucks are adding another goaltender to their roster.
According to an official announcement from the Canucks organization, the team has signed 29 year old Finnish goaltender Kevin Lankinen to a one year deal. The news comes directly from Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin who on Saturday announced that the deal would carry an average annual value and salary cap hit of $875,000 for next season.
Lankinen is coming off a pair of seasons with the Nashville Predators, the most recent of which saw him appear in 24 games in a backup role. Lankinen finished last season with a 2.82 goals against average and a .908 save percentage over the course of those 24 games.
The news comes roughly a week after the Canucks announced that they were bringing in former Ottawa Senators goaltender Dylan Fergusson, a move that may not be working out as well as the team had hoped.
There have been reports that Ferguson struggled in camp and even as recently as today there have been reports that he has been demoted to group C in training camp. The two things may not be connected, but it would make sense that the Canucks would feel the need to bolster their goaltending position if the Ferguson experiment is not working out.
With question marks surrounding the health of Canucks number one goaltender Thatcher Demko, it makes a great deal of sense for the Canucks to secure the services of a capable and proven backup like Lankinen just before the start of the National Hockey League's preseason.