How The Canucks Should Manage Their Goaltending Over The Final 30 Games Of The 2025-26 Season

The Vancouver Canucks have 30 games remaining in the 2025-26 season. While the organization had hoped Vancouver could get back to the playoffs this year, the campaign has now turned into an opportunity to secure first overall in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. At this point, the focus needs to be on the development of young players as well as evaluating which experienced players should remain for the rebuild. 

One younger player who the Canucks should give more of an opportunity to is goaltender Nikita Tolopilo. The 25-year-old has played in six games with Vancouver this season and looks ready to make the jump to the NHL as a backup. With very little travel over the final 30 games, after the Olympic break is the perfect opportunity to give Tolopilo the reins and show that he can handle a bigger workload in the NHL. 

Before diving into what a plan could look like, it is important to note that Tolopilo getting more starts is only possible if Thatcher Demko is shut down for the season. According to GM Patrik Allvin, there is a chance Demko could be done for the year, but the organization is still exploring all options. For the sake of this article, it will be assumed that Demko is not returning for the rest of the season, leaving Vancouver with a tandem of Tolopilo and Kevin Lankinen. 

While Lankinen should get the majority of starts leading up to the 2026 Winter Olympics as he will be representing Finland at the event, the final 25 games are a different story. As mentioned, with playoffs no longer an option, the Canucks should be focused on developing Tolopilo, which could mean giving him more starts than Lankinen over the final few months of the season. The organization should still have Lankinen play games, but a close to 50% split, or 13 games for Tolopilo, would be best for his development moving forward. 

As mentioned, Vancouver's schedule is very home-heavy after the Olympic break. In fact, the Canucks will only play four games not in the Pacific Time Zone. With virtually no travel and only three back-to-backs, splitting the net between Lankinen and Tolopilo should not be an issue as long as both stay healthy. 

Overall, how Vancouver manages players over the next few months will be interesting. Trades should open up roster spots, which could be filled with those currently playing for the Abbotsford Canucks. Ultimately, the organization will have the opportunity to see if younger players are ready for bigger roles, which will help with evaluating team needs for the 2026-27 season. 

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