Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Vancouver Canucks have arguably one of the best goaltending tandem in the league. One half of that tandem is Kevin Lankinen, who had a career-high 25 wins for Vancouver last year. Now in his second season with the organization, Lankinen is focused on helping the team improve which will hopefully result in the Canucks returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Training camp and the pre-season is an important time for Lankinen as it allows him to get back to game speed before the regular season. While players can work on individual skills during the off-season, the summer months can be difficult for goaltenders as it is challenging to replicate game situations. As Lankinen explains, the last few weeks have helped him settle in and get ready for the 2025-26 campaign. 

"I think it's really important, because you prepare all summer, said Lankinen. You do your skates, your workouts, but it's not the same until the team's together and you start putting all the team practices and the X's and O's together. So, as a goal, you want to see some action in the pre-season. The pre-season games are the most important ones, because it's hard to replicate some of the stuff that is happening in the game."

Part of Lankinen's off-season included arriving in Vancouver early to work with Canucks players and staff. This included Thatcher Demko, who he will be sharing the crease with, as well as Marko Torenius, who is Vancouver's goaltending coach. For Lankinen, putting in that extra time before training camp was beneficial as it allowed him to get up to speed and work on specific areas of his game. 

"We put in tons of work this summer. Even leading to training camp, me and Demer have been here almost five weeks just to prepare for training camp and putting in the goalie work. So I think we're in a really good spot. Both of us and our games have taken some steps. We've been focused on a couple different things that we noticed last year could elevate my game even more. So hopefully that will translate soon here, once the season gets going."

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As mentioned, the Canucks have one of the top tandems in the NHL with Demko and Lankinen. This is a big positive for the organization as both have shown in the past that they can be successful starters in the NHL. It also means plenty of internal competition for starts which Lankinen is excited about. 

"I think in the NHL, no matter who's next to you, there's always a challenge and competitiveness. It's the best league in the world, for a reason. There's never going to be a day that you don't have to compete. And I love the competitive part of the game. Being a competitor all my life, and that's my nature. So it'll be good because we're both pushing each other to get better on the ice, and we get along really well. So I think it's a good combination for not only the team, but for the both of us.

"From my end, nothing really changes. I'm just gonna approach day to day, do my routine, my preparation, as well as I can, and every time I get in, I'm just gonna go all in. That's been working for me throughout my whole career, and I'm not gonna change that. It's a pretty simple lifestyle to live as well. You just focus on the task at hand and not worry about anything else. So it's a fun new chapter and a fun new season. I can't wait to get going."

The 2025-26 campaign is shaping up to be a memorable one for Lankinen. Based on mock rosters, he is projected to be one of Finland's three goaltenders for the 2026 Winter Olympics. As Lankinen explained, representing his country would be special, but his main focus remains helping Vancouver have the most successful season possible. 

"There's obviously some individual goals. We want to keep improving from last year, and play a lot of games, helping the team win. You want to make the Olympics, but at the same time, the main focus is helping the team win and get to the playoffs, so that's the number one objective in our minds."

With a condensed scheduled, the Canucks are going to rely heavily on Lankinen this year. The good news is he looks up for the challenge as the 30-year-old has posted a save percentage of .939 in 100 minutes of pre-season action. If Lankinen can step up like he did last season, it will go a long way in helping Vancouver qualify for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

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