'I'm More Confident Than Ever': Canucks Goaltender Kevin Lankinen Primed For A Bounce-Back Season

Kevin Lankinen is going to play a key role for the Vancouver Canucks once again. The 31-year-old is entering his third season with the organization and is currently projected to be the team's starting goaltender on opening night. After what was a busy campaign, which featured 43 starts and a trip to the Winter Olympics, Lankinen is ready for whatever is thrown at him during the 2026-27 season. 

While training camp doesn't start until September 17, Lankinen and his teammates are already putting in work at Rogers Arena. The team is participating in "captain's skates," which are training sessions organized by the players. For the Canucks, almost every player is participating, which, according to Lankinen, shows how dedicated this group is heading into the campaign. 

"It tells you a lot about the group," said Lankinen. "We want to get together and make sure we're ready to go when the puck drops. We're committed to the process, and I think that's what it shows."

This off-season, Vancouver made some significant changes both on and off the ice. On the ice, the new management group focused heavily on bringing in players with leadership qualities who are tough to play against. As Lankinen explained in an interview with The Hockey News, he is impressed not just with the new guys, but also with how dedicated some of the younger players are to getting better every day. 

"I love the dudes that they brought in. I'm familiar with Schenner (Luke Schenn). Played with him a couple of years in Nashville. I know exactly what he's going to bring into the lineup and off the ice as well. Jamie (Oleksiak) seems like a great dude, and playing against him in Seattle, you know what he brings. He's mean, strong and a big physical presence. As a goalie, that's what you love to see in front of you. Obviously, Paul (Cotter) too. He's showing some great skill. He's got some special talent. Hopefully, he can showcase that this year and all the other guys as well. So I'm really excited. And most importantly, just like seeing the guys that we have. Seeing them taking steps. Seeing Tom (Willander), seeing Zeev (Buium) and Liam (Öhgren) and all these guys coming back and being in great shape and flying out there. It just brings you a lot of confidence going into the season... Just great people. All in all, great human beings. Bringing in some good, positive energy. I like what we have cooking in the locker room. We're having a good time, and everybody's pulling the same rope. So I'm really looking forward to the season."

As mentioned, Lankinen had a busy 2025-26 campaign. He played a total of 47 games and travelled to Italy mid-season as part of Finland's Olympic Team. After what was a long year, Lankinen used the extended off-season to reset and get ready for what will be another busy season. 

"I thought it was helpful. Of course, it was a condensed schedule, and then going to the Olympics and bringing home the Bronze Medal and everything that came with that. It was just a lot of great learning experiences last year. Just having the time to decompress, recap, learn, and then get right back at it. I mean, I had almost four months time to get my myself ready for this season. I feel better than ever. I'm just ready to go."

One of the big question marks heading into the season is the health of goaltender Thatcher Demko. With the 30-year-old projected to miss the start of the year, Lankinen is once again expected to have a busy workload, especially early in the season. As the Finnish goaltender explained, he is ready to start however many games the team needs him to this year.  

"It doesn't really affect my thing. Obviously, I'm happy to see Thatcher doing well and making his way back again. But I feel great. I had a great summer. I'm more confident than ever. I got some good rest, but at the same time, I did the most work in the gym that I've done so far. I was able to spend some good quality time on the ice and work on a couple of little things. So I'm super confident, excited and ready to go."

As for the upcoming season, the Canucks are projected to finish near the bottom of the standings. These projections aren't surprising, as Vancouver is at the start of a rebuild and coming off one of the worst campaigns in franchise history. Despite what fans and the media are saying, Lankinen is confident this Canucks group will fight hard every night regardless of where they are in the standings. 

"I think so. I don't really listen to the people outside. I know what we have inside here, and obviously we want to build. We want to win in the long term, but we also want to win today. We're athletes, we're warriors, we're competitors. So we're doing everything we can to win every single game this year. Whether we're going to win it or not, nobody knows. But I think that's the mindset going in. We're not going to give a single inch to anybody, and just fight for every single point we can."

If Vancouver is going to prove doubters wrong, Lankinen will need to have a strong year. He has a good chance of starting more than 40 games again, but he needs a bounce-back season for the Canucks to succeed. Ultimately, Lankinen sounds prepared for whatever the 2026-27 campaign throws his way. 

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