The Vancouver Canucks Crease: 2025/26

Goaltending in Vancouver has rarely been “calm water”. From Cory Schneider to Roberto Luongo, Jacob Markström to Thatcher Demko, the net has often belonged to goalies who either broke through or broke down under the weight of expectation. Now, in 2025/26, the season opens with the same tension: Demko, a one-time Vezina finalist, is returning from disrupted form due to injury, while Kevin Lankinen, a career backup turned absolute workhorse, might be asked to anchor again. The Canucks do have options in the pipeline, but the departure of Arturs Silovs leaves the system thinner than most knowledgeable fans would prefer.

This is not a settled crease. It is one that will need to be claimed.

 Kevin Lankinen: Battling for Stability

When Kevin Lankinen first made himself known to the hockey world, it was on a stage most goaltenders only dream about: the 2019 World Championships. Finland iced a roster stacked with AHL and ECHL journeymen, and yet it was Lankinen who delivered a .942 save percentage, and two shutouts en route to a gold medal over Canada. It was proof of what he could be when locked in; ALWAYS square, patient, and reliant on reads rather than desperation.

His subsequent NHL run in Chicago mirrored that potential: 37 games, a .909 save percentage, and an opening stretch of .936 through his first 15 appearances. But those numbers came at a cost: Lankinen’s stance was narrow, his hands active, and his tracking sharp, but he over-relied on aggressively utilizing his depth. Shooters had adjusted by the next season… and by the time he arrived in Nashville Nashville, Lankinen’s game had been diminished to a backup role.

Last offseason, Kevin decided to bet on himself: he had offers from around the league to be the number 2/3 goalie in any organization, but he waited. He exercised the best patience of his career, and waited for the best opportunity to showcase his talents. That opportunity would come in Vancouver, where he signed shortly before the start of the regular season for an almost league minimum contract. Last season with Vancouver, he faced the heaviest workload of his career: 51 games played. His .902 save percentage and 2.62 GAA won’t impress at a casual glance, but the tape tells a different story. Lankinen’s crease management improved drastically: less chasing, more anchoring. His RVH was tighter, his pushes off his posts far more economical than previously witnessed. He held his ground longer, resisting his past urges to pre-slide. Where he did struggle was in his lateral recoveries through traffic; his somewhat lacking rebound control often forced him into second saves that pulled him out of his crease, leaving him a sitting duck for a struggling Canucks’ defence.

The question for 2025/26 will be this: Can Lankinen sustain starter-level mechanics over another full season? Or was last year simply an exercise in survival at volume?

 Thatcher Demko: Searching for Rhythm

Demko’s ceiling has already been burned into the minds of Vancouverites. The “bubble Demko” of 2020, shutting down Vegas with perfect angular precision and exceptional glove coverage, will forever linger in fans’ memory. The years that followed only solidified it: two straight .915 seasons, followed by a .918 alongside 35 wins in 2023/24 that landed him several Vezina nods. At his best, Demko is defined by patience; holding edges late, using quiet shuffles rather than aggressive slides, beating plays on his feet rather than his knees, so as to not overuse his exceptional speed.

But injuries change goalies. Last season, his return saw only 23 games, an .889 save percentage, and movements that lacked confidence. His pushes were shorter, and his post integrations less assertive. Where Demko once challenged high, he played deeper. His hands, normally set early, looked reactive. These were the fingerprints of a goalie still rebuilding rhythm after significant disruption to his process.

For Demko, 2025/26 is not about numbers. It is about reclaiming the reads that made him elite. If he can retain the crease discipline and exceptional tracking through what promises to be a full season of chaos, Vancouver’s net belongs to him again. If not, the crease risks fracturing into an expensive timeshare.

 The Depth Below

Arturs Silovs’ exit leaves a hole in the organization. Sam wrote extensively about Arturs and was able to interview him two seasons ago when he was first making waves in Abbotsford. And although his early NHL starts exposed gaps in the structure of his game — leaky hands, late rotations going east to west —his AHL dominance made him the closest thing to a ready-made successor for Vancouver’s crease. His potential was not yet reached, and trading him to Pittsburgh has put pressure on Abbotsford’s tandem.

 Ty Young: Coming off a .926 ECHL campaign, Young showed improved post play in limited AHL minutes. His stance is wide and his pushes are compact, but he still gets caught committing early on lateral slot plays. His goal for 25/26 will be to stick around in Abbotsford, as the path for him to become the organization’s top goalie prospect is clear and lit up.

 Nikita Tolopilo: With a massive frame at 6’6”, he saw two NHL games last season where he did not look out of place. His .902 in Abbotsford reflects the league of broken plays that is the AHL, but the tools are there: exceptionally long reach, active stick (especially on wraparounds), and a steady RVH. His weakness remains high-glove exposure when drifting back, which he often finds himself doing as a result of his size.

 Jiri Patera: He played just seven games with Abbotsford last year, and had eight NHL appearances with Vegas not long ago. His stance is compact, but his short pushes struggle to cover backside looks. At best, he has the potential to solidify a steady depth role; at worst, he may serve as just another body. Patera is nearing a fork in his pro career, one in which he will develop into a consistent north American pro goaltender, and one in which he will return to Europe to carve out a different kind of legacy.

Alexei Medvedev: The 18-year-old arrives in the Canucks system with much fanfare: he signed his three-year entry level deal in July after posting a .912 and a 2.79 in 34 OHL games last season. Scouts who watched him play often in London for the Knights highlighted his raw athleticism, calm presence in the net, and how he has handled the transition to North American hockey. The latter is incredibly impressive, given how long it takes some goalies to adapt to the differences in our game. In watching Alexei, you will quickly notice his unique “hunchback” stance; it appears to hinder him in making the first save, but his explosiveness does often make up for this. Still, drafting him at 47^th overall carries significant risk. In our view, his technical inconsistencies are more than cosmetic, and while his athleticism bails him out of mistakes often, in the NHL that won’t be sustainable. Shooters will punish him. Importantly, this is not to write him off: Medvedev’s framework is usable, he has the speed to recover, the body language to manage panic plays, and the mental composure that scouts beg for. If he can lean into modern technique, clean up his posture, and learns patience in his reads, he can still become an incredibly effective pro, there is no doubt. He may not have the potential many believed Silovs to hold, but the path for Medvedev to become a solid 2/3 NHL option exists. Medvedev hasn’t failed at anything yet, but he does have a long journey ahead. If he is able to build from his flaws, he will surprise many.

Without Silovs, this depth chart looks less like the insurance it is supposed to provide and more like a gamble.

So, what can Vancouver expect?

 A Demko who, if healthy, still has the toolkit to play like a top 10 NHL starter.

 A Lankinen whose efficiency may hold, but whose ceiling is limited by his recovery game.

 A depth group that will require at least one prospect to overachieve if disaster strikes.

The crease is not doomed, nor is it secure. It is precarious, hinging on whether Demko can once again lead with authority, whether Lankinen can control net-front scrambles calmly, and whether a rookie or relatively inexperienced journeyman can step in without being overwhelmed by NHL pace. For a team chasing 90 points last year that was left outside the playoff picture, it will be the difference between contending and drifting. The net is there to be claimed. The only question is: who will own it?