Vancouver Canucks Prepared to “Wait (Kevin) Lankinen Out”

The Thatcher Demko drama continues in Vancouver, and the Canucks are still desperate for a solid veteran backup. We reported last week that they offered unrestricted free agent Kevin Lankinen a one-year contract, but it was apparently worth less than $1 million.

Lankinen made $2 million last year with the Nashville Predators, and he's not accepting the Canucks' offer at this point.

But camps are underway, and the 29-year-old goalie is without a job, so Vancouver is still hoping he comes around, while Lankinen is hoping the Cancuks will offload some contracts to make cap space to bring their offer up.

According to insider Rick Dhaliwal, the Canucks are a little worried about Demko's durability during the season when he does return, and are prepared to "wait Lankinen out."

"He can't play 60+ games Don.."@DonTaylor5 and @DhaliwalSports talked about Demko's workload needing to change this season and if the #Canucks are still interested in Kevin Lankinen. https://t.co/h4e2SKM7eJ pic.twitter.com/e2JKzedKe7
— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) September 20, 2024

"The gap in contract talks is not improving. The Canucks don't have the cap space. Their offer, under $1M, is not going to cut it," explains Dhaliwal. "(But) they don't want to put players like Nils Aman and Noah Juulson on waivers to make (cap) room.

"Clearly, they are trying to wait Lankinen out because training camps have started. Lankinen's waiting for some teams to move money... but the goaltender market is quiet right now... Are the Canucks waiting for Lankinen to panic and take their offer? I think there's a little bit of that."

Demko revealed his frustration to the media this week about the recovery from his rare injury, and his timeline for a return is still undetermined, though he has been on the ice recently and is making progress.