Welcome to The Hockey News - Vancouver Canucks site's player preview series for the 2025–26 season. In these articles, we'll preview the players who are expected to play for the Canucks during the 2025–26 season. Today's edition will focus on goaltender Kevin Lankinen, who signed a five-year extension last year.
Lankinen's 2024-25 Season
Lankinen made quite the impression during his first season with Vancouver. He set an NHL record by becoming the first goalie in NHL history to win their first ten road games to start a season, and spent the majority of the year as the Canucks starter. Lankinen also established a new career high in wins with 25 and was named to Team Finland for the 4-Nations Faceoff.
Lankinen's 2024-25 Letter Grade
After an impressive campaign, Lankinen earned a B+ letter grade for the 2024-25 season. As mentioned, he was able to step in as the team starter, and kept Vancouver in games throughout the year. Ultimately, he proved to be one of the most valuable signings in the NHL from the 2024 off-season.
Lankinen's 2025-26 Predictions
With Thatcher Demko back, Lankinen will be the Canucks backup next season. That being said, it is very possible that the 30-year-old plays over 30 games in 2025-26. With Demko's injury history and Adam Foote's staff knowing that they can rely on Lankinen more than some other backups, Lankinen should see more ice time than others in his position.
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The Olympics will also be something to keep an eye on when it comes to Lankinen. He is projected to be named to Team Finland and could see some game action depending on how Finland does in the group stage of the tournament. While he won't be as busy as he was during the 2024-25 season, Lankinen should get plenty of opportunities in 2025-26 to show that last year was not a fluke.
Something to keep an eye on throughout the season is whether or not Vancouver elects to play Lankinen more on the road than at home. Last year, he went 16-6-5 on the road, compared to 9-9-5 at home. While he will get some starts at Rogers Arena, having Lankinen start the majority of road games may be a strategy the Canucks use in 2025-26.
Adam Kierszenblat’s Stat Prediction: 32 GP, 16 W
Izzy Cheung’s Stat Prediction: 39 GP, 20 W
Bold Prediction: Lankinen will play at least two games at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
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