Goalie dispute: Kevin Lankinen claims Vancouver Canucks' starting job

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Maverick Mitchell
October 13, 2024 (8:49 PM)

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With star goalie Thatcher Demko still on the injured list with a devastating knee injury, the competition level is at it's peak as Arturs Silovs and Kevin Lankinen go head to head to prove they deserve the starting job, and it appears Lankinen has stolen the show.

With Demko going down late in the season last year, Arturs Silovs made a major leap from the AHL Abbotsford Canucks. He made an immediate impact and impressed the organization greatly but, he still is unproven at the NHL level.

Through parts of two seasons, the 23-year-old has a 6-2-1 record but only a .885 save percentage to show for it.

It was assumed that with Demko out and Silovs' great play last season, that he would be the go to guy in between the pipes, but his early struggles came to the forefront against the Calgary Flames where he allowed 6 goals in the overtime loss.

Kevin Lankinen steals the starting job for the Vancouver Canucks

Despite the loss, in the second game of the regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers, free-agent signing Kevin Lankinen played as well as anyone could have asked for. He made 29 saves on 31 shots which achieved an .935 save percentage while stopping 0.2 goals above expected for an NHL goalie.

Now that there is no clear decision, head coach Rick Tocchet has to pick his goalie based on merit, and if that is the case, the clear starter has to go to Lankinen. Being 0-0-2, going back to Silovs would be a mistake.

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