Kevin Lankinen signed with the Chicago Blackhawks on May 21st, 2018. As expected, he was excited:
So excited to have signed my first @NHL contract and honoured to join the @NHLBlackhawks organization. Feels like a dream come true! Can't wait to get things started! pic.twitter.com/Zg9jlUgM8Y
— Kevin Lankinen (@KLankinen) May 21, 2018
You've probably heard more about Mr. Lankinen over this last month and definitely a lot this past weekend. Why? Well, he helped Team Finland capture gold with a win yesterday vs. Canada in the World Championship.
Not only did Lankinen win gold yesterday with a 43 save performance, but he also took down Sweden in the quarter-finals and shutout the Russians in the semis. Over 8 games, Lankinen posted an impressive 1.50 GAA and .942 SV%.
He put his name on the map with his play and I've heard he's put the Hawks on notice. This performance might have cost Anton Forsberg a contract with Chicago.
It was going to be a dicey situation between Chicago and Forsberg's agent anyway but I would not be shocked to see Forsberg be included in a trade package and/or find himself over in Europe next year to gain a little more professional notoriety. It's not that he needed much more, he's shown he can dominate at the AHL level, however, with the Blackhawks, he struggled. Still, he has value and could be intriguing to a team needing more goaltending depth.
Forsberg could still very well be a solid NHL goalie, but Lankinen might be better.
Lankinen's addition to the Finnish team was an odd choice as European team tends to select players they are similar with in international play; Lankinen had never suited up in the World Championship and hadn't represented Finland since 2014-15 when he played U19 and U20 in junior play and has never represented his country on a National team.
Let's take a look at the 24 year old and his take a look at this background:
(Courtesy: EliteProspects)
Now, let's check out Kevin the person with his interview with Joey Zakrzewski (Courtesy: Rockford IceHogs):
Now you have all of the facts, is there a chance that the Blackhawks could start the season with Crawford and Lankinen as the duo in net?
Stan Bowman has invested in Collin Delia signing him to a 3-year / 3 million deal this past season. Delia is still waiver exempt (as is Lankinen) so his spot in Chicago as Corey Crawford's backup is all but secure.
If Crawford was 100% healthy, I can see a scenario where the Hawks want Delia and Lankinen to battle it out for the backup position, however, the Hawks cannot count on Crawford 100%.
I still think the Hawks sign a veteran goaltender as insurance. Think about it, if no one else is signed and the Hawks #1 goes down again for an extended period of time, the Hawks can't count on Delia and Lankinen as a pair. That would be considered crazy! Banking on Delia with his 18 NHL games and Lankinen with 0.
My theory is that Cam Ward will be strongly considered as a returnee with the Hawks for the 2019-20 season. Even if it's a 1-year/2 million deal – this time without an NMC/NTC – it may be worth it to have him up with Chicago. Then you have Delia and Lankinen manning the crease in Rockford.
If it's not Ward, I would advocate the Hawks signing someone with significant NHL experience. Some UFAers that would make sense would be:
* Anders Nilsson * Chad Johnson * Keith Kinkaid * Al Montoya
All four of the ‘tenders above wouldn't cost a lot but could step in if need be if Crawford goes down (knock on wood).
They would all be able to be sent down to Rockford if need be if Delia and/or Lankinen take over the crease and the Hawks need to make room.
The goaltending situation is one that I have been looking into and asking a lot of people about.
What I've heard is that the Hawks will continue with the same strategy as last year – ie. They aren't going to be stuck with 2-3 inexperienced NHL goalies on their roster if Crawford has health issues again.
With this information, I believe the Hawks will bring in a veteran backstop to help out and let Delia and Lankinen compete in training camp for a spot.
I was told not to expect Delia as the given as the backup (this was before Lankinen's strong World Championships) just because of his recent contract.
--
What would you like to see… let's do a vote: A) Blackhawks sign veteran goalie and roll with Delia/Lankinen in Rockford B) Blackhawks use Crawford/Delia next year C) Lankinen is lights out in training camp and the Hawks go with Crawford/Delia
See ya out there, TC