Backup goaltender Kevin Lankinen's 48 save performance against the New York Islanders Friday may finally silence fans who were critical of his offseason signing.
To say Nashville was surprised when General Manager David Poile announced he had signed Kevin Lankinen to a one year, $1.5 million contract on July 14 would be a polite understatement. The confusion and frustration among a majority of the fanbase was evident on social media and around water coolers in Nashville immediately as many felt like the Predators were wasting money and cap space that should have been earmarked for bigger needs on the roster.
There were reasons to raise an eyebrow at the signing in July. Juuse Saros was coming off of a Vezina finalist season. Saros playing that well with the most starts in the 2021-2022 season (67) made a backup goalie seem far down the list of offseason needs. Even when Saros was out with an injury at the end of the season and into the playoffs with an ankle injury, Connor Ingram came in after David Rittich failed to impress. Ingram performed well enough against the eventual Stanley Cup winning Avs to assume the back up job would be his going forward.
Then the Predators made the July 14 announcement about Lankinen. Confusion over fan favorite Connor Ingram's future mixed with concerns over Lankinen's stats with the Blackhawks led to immediate criticism of the move. In 2021-2022, the 6'2" Finnish net minder started 29 games, went 8-15-6, and finished with an unimpressive .891 save percentage and 3.50 goals against average. The feeling among vocal Nashville fans was if Saros was able to manage a hefty workload, why not let Ingram bridge the gap until Nashville's future phenom goaltender Yaroslav Askarov was ready? Even with a relatively affordable contract, why sign a goaltender, and one that didn't look that great on paper?
Head coach John Hynes and Poile were clear when training camp began that they wanted to see Ingram and Lankinen compete for the backup position. It was also clear when training camp, preseason, and the Global Series were over that Lankinen had won the job. Ingram was placed on waivers and ended up with the Arizona Coyotes. Lankinen had the back up job but still a fair share of critics.
His preseason performances and six regular season starts began to erase the concerns Preds fans had about Lankinen's stats from Chicago. While he was in net for losses against Columbus, Colorado, and Detroit, Lankinen has earned an impressive .934 save percentage in his games. It helps that he has a less porous defense in front of him with Nashville than he did with the '21-'22 Blackhawks. Lankinen has also showed that he can keep the Preds in games.
Friday night, the 27 year old proved he could steal a game for his team as well. Lankinen faced a career high 49 shots from the New York Islanders. In a game in which the Islanders earned a statistical 2.65 expected goals for, Lankinen made Saros-esque saves and gave up only one goal.
It remains to be seen how many starts Kevin Lankinen will end up with this season. Juuse Saros is nearing his former Vezina finalist form in recent weeks, but Lankinen already has half as many starts as backup David Rittich had last season. Confidence in Lankinen makes it more likely Saros will get at least a few more rest games this season. While Hynes and Poile may have seen what Lankinen could bring to the team when they signed him in the offseason, his outstanding goaltending Friday night reassured doubters that Lankinen is the right backup for the Nashville Predators.