After months of negotiating, the Vancouver Canucks finally signed goalie Kevin Lankinen to a contract extension. Perhaps five years and a total value north of $20 million was not exactly what everyone had in mind, though.
Lankinen, 29, walked away from the negotiating table with a five-year, $22.5 million contract extension ($4.5 million AAV), making him one of the NHL's highest-paid backup goalies. That is, as long as he remains a backup with Thatcher Demko struggling to stay healthy post-popliteus injury and rehab.
The Finn, too, is largely the reason for the Canucks even being in a playoff spot today. Overall, Lankinen is 19-8-7 with a 2.53 GAA despite his unimpressive .905 save percentage. His four shutouts are, however, tied with Jake Allen and Juuse Saros for the second-most in the NHL.
Speaking of Allen, he's 9-11-1 for the New Jersey Devils this season with a similar 2.56 GAA and a superior .912 save percentage in addition to those four shutouts. Allen has a $3.85 million cap hit this season, though the Devils are paying him only half of that thanks to Montreal's salary retention in the trade that sent him to New Jersey. Oh, and he's 34 years old and a pending free agent, so there's no long-term commitment there.
If Lankinen's contract extension kicked in today, he would be tied with Florida's Spencer Knight for the goalie with the 19th-largest cap hit at his position in the NHL. Notably, Lankinen's countryman, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, just signed a five-year, $23.75 million contract on July 24, which gives him a cap hit of only $4.75 million.
Luukkonen, 25, has shown capable of being a starting NHL goalie at times despite being perpetually stuck behind a terrible Buffalo defence that has still yet to take a meaningful step forward.
Anthony Stolarz, a career backup goalie, has been phenomenal for Toronto this season with his 10 wins in 18 games and .929 save percentage. His cap hit is just over half of what Lankinen's will be next year at $2.5 million.
Grade: C+
Lankinen's contract is more favorable for him and less favorable for the Canucks, simply put. But, with Demko's health having been in a never-ending state of flux for the last 10 months, the team really had no choice but to give in and get a deal done.
If nothing else, Lankinen has shown the Canucks that he is capable of carrying the load in a pinch. Latvian youngster Arturs Silovs, another potential backup option, has not done that. If the Canucks had any aspirations of remaining a remotely competitive team, they had to get this deal done.
At the same time, though, this does not mean the deal is of great value. Right now, Lankinen is being paid like a top-20 goalie in the NHL. Is he one? That remains to be seen.
That, too, can change in the offseason when other goalies see their contract extensions kick in or sign new ones on the free agent market. Mackenzie Blackwood, for example, is one goalie due for a massive pay day. Joel Hofer and Charlie Lindgren fit that bill, too.
Good on the Canucks and Lankinen, who grinded from an undrafted rookie, for getting this deal done. Time will tell if or how much this contract backfires.