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Kevin Lankinen

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Kevin Lankinen
Lankinen at the 2020 AHL All-Star Game
Born (1995-04-28) 28 April 1995 (age 29)
Helsinki, Finland
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Vancouver Canucks
Jokerit
HIFK
KooKoo
Chicago Blackhawks
Nashville Predators
National team  Finland
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2014–present

Kevin Lankinen (born 28 April 1995), nicknamed "Lanks" or "Lanki", is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators.

Playing career

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Liiga

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Lankinen has played primarily for HIFK of the SM-liiga, from 2014 to 2018. He also played one match for Jokerit and two for KooKoo, and ten for Kiekko-Vantaa of Mestis.[1][2]

In 2014, Lankinen signed a three-year contract with HIFK.[3] In the 2015 playoffs, he participated in the longest game in SM-liiga's history, lasting 134 minutes and 14 seconds. His team won 2–1 and advanced to the quarterfinals.[4]

In the summer of 2015, Lankinen participated in the New York Islanders development camp.[5]

During the 2015–16 season, Lankinen played alongside Ville Husso, playing 22 games in the regular season, as well as three in the playoffs as his team won silver medals.[6] During the 2016–17 season, Lankinen was a secondary goaltender alongside the more experienced Niklas Bäckström, but due to Bäckström's injuries, he became the primary goaltender and played in 42 games, seven of which were shutouts, the most in the league that season.[7]

During the 2017–18 season, Lankinen was injured and unable to play for a large portion of the season.[8] However, he made a successful comeback by playing 15 games in the regular season with four shutouts and a save percentage of 94.58 percent. His goals against average (GAA) was 1.33, the highest in the league that season. During the playoffs, he played as the primary goaltender for 13 games with a save percentage of 93.56 percent,[9] helping his team win bronze medals. He was in the running for the Urpo Ylönen trophy, which is awarded to the best goaltender of the season, alongside Veini Vehviläinen from Oulun Kärpät and Dominik Hrachovina from Tappara,[10] but the award went to Vehviläinen.

Chicago Blackhawks

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On 21 May 2018, Lankinen (who had not been selected in NHL Entry Draft) signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).[11]

In his second season with the Blackhawks affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs in the 2019–20 season, Lankinen made 21 appearances, earning 8 wins and represented the IceHogs as the teams' lone representative at the 2020 AHL All-Star Game. On 5 March 2020, Lankinen was ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery, with a recovery period of 5 months.[12]

On 19 January 2021, Lankinen made his NHL debut, losing 5–4 in overtime to the Florida Panthers.[13] On 22 January, Lankinen earned his first NHL win in a 4–1 win against the Detroit Red Wings.[14] His first NHL shutout came on 17 February, in the Blackhawks' 2–0 win over the Detroit Red Wings.[15] His 2020—21 season record was 17–14–5.

During the 2021—22 season, Lankinen served as the backup to Marc-André Fleury. Lankinen struggled to begin the season, not recording his first win until 7 November 2021, in a game against the Nashville Predators. After Fleury was traded to the Minnesota Wild, Lankinen became the starter, leading the team to a 5-9-3 record following the trade. He ended the season with a 8-15-6 record and a 3.50 goals against average.

Nashville Predators

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As a free agent from the Blackhawks, on 14 July 2022, Lankinen was signed to a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Nashville Predators.[16] He was bought in to serve as a backup to Juuse Saros. On 3 March 2023, the Predators signed Lankinen to a one-year, $2 million contract extension.[17] Across his two seasons in Nashville, Lankinen posted a 20–14–1 record and a .912 save percentage.

Vancouver Canucks

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On 21 August 2024, Lankinen agreed to a one-year, $875,000 contract with the Vancouver Canucks.[18]

International play

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Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Finland
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Slovakia

In 2019, Lankinen represented Finland in the Ice Hockey World Championships, winning gold. Throughout the tournament, he had the second highest save percentage (after Andrei Vasilevskiy) of 94.20% and a goals against average of 1.50. He served as the goaltender for each playoff game.[19]

Personal life

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Lankinen likes to read and names "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari as his favorite book. Another favorite of his is "The Dirt" – an autobiography of Mötley Crüe.[20] Lankinen has opened a Facebook-based book club with Finnish publisher WSOY.[21]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2011–12 Jokerit Jr. A 2 — — — — — — 1.00 .950 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Jokerit Jr. A 23 — — — — — — 2.92 .910 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Jokerit Jr. A 36 — — — — 83 — 2.33 .917 4 — — — 9 — 2.09 .931
2013–14 Jokerit Liiga 1 0 0 0 17 2 0 7.16 .667 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Kiekko-Vantaa Mestis 10 — — — — — — 3.29 .906 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 HIFK Liiga 24 8 10 5 1307 50 0 2.29 .911 6 3 2 414 12 0 1.74 .933
2015–16 HIFK Liiga 22 12 5 4 1294 51 0 2.36 .906 3 1 2 180 10 0 3.33 .891
2015–16 KooKoo Liiga 2 0 0 2 128 5 0 2.34 .919 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 HIFK Liiga 42 13 19 9 2443 87 7 2.14 .920 13 6 6 768 32 0 2.50 .906
2017–18 HIFK Liiga 15 10 3 2 900 20 4 1.33 .940 13 7 5 756 25 0 1.99 .934
2017–18 Ketterä Mestis 2 — — — — — — 1.50 .924 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Rockford IceHogs AHL 19 7 8 4 1151 48 0 2.50 .910 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Indy Fuel ECHL 6 4 2 0 358 19 0 3.18 .893 — — — — — — — —
2019–20 Rockford IceHogs AHL 21 8 10 2 1190 60 0 3.03 .909 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 37 17 14 5 2174 109 2 3.01 .909 — — — — — — — —
2021–22 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 32 8 15 6 1816 106 0 3.50 .891 — — — — — — — —
2022–23 Nashville Predators NHL 19 9 8 1 1070 49 0 2.75 .916 — — — — — — — —
2023–24 Nashville Predators NHL 24 11 6 0 1191 56 1 2.82 .908 — — — — — — — —
Liiga totals 105 43 37 22 6,073 213 11 2.10 .918 35 17 15 2118 79 0 2.24 .921
NHL totals 112 45 43 12 6,251 320 3 3.07 .905 — — — — — — — —

International

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Year Team Event Result GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2019 Finland WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 8 7 1 0 481 12 2 1.50 .942
Senior totals 8 7 1 0 481 12 2 1.50 .942

Awards and honours

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Award Year
Jr. A
Jorma Valtonen Award 2014
First All-Star Team 2014
AHL
All-Star Game 2020
International
WC Best GAA (1.50) 2019

References

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  1. ^ "The Internet Hockey Database". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Tilastot – #30 Lankinen, Kevin – Liiga". liiga.fi.
  3. ^ "Michael Keränen into HIFK (in Finnish)". 30 April 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  4. ^ "HIFK's Partanen ended the longest game in SM-Liiga's history (in Finnish)". 15 March 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  5. ^ TOIMITUS@JATKOAIKA.COM (30 June 2015). "Veini Vehviläiselle sittenkin NHL-huomiota - useita suomalaisia seurojen kesäleireille". 65 Jatkoaika r.y. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Liiga's goalie statistics 2015–2016". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Liiga's goalie statistics 2016–2017". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  8. ^ "Atte Engren to tend HIFK's goal – Kevin Lankinen unable to play for a long time (in Finnish)". 4 August 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  9. ^ "Liiga's goalie statistics 2017–2018". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  10. ^ "Best goalie 2018 – the winner is one of these three (in Finnish)". 30 April 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  11. ^ "RELEASE: Blackhawks agree to terms with four players". NHL.com. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Blackhawks goalie prospect Kevin Lankinen undergoes season-ending shoulder surgery". NBC Sports. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  13. ^ Pope, Ben (19 January 2021). "Blackhawks' overtime loss spoils strong performance from young players". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Kane helps Blackhawks beat Red Wings 4-1 for 1st win". AP News. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Rookies Lankinen, Kurashev lead Blackhawks past Red Wings". TSN. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Predators sign Kevin Lankinen to a one-year contract". Nashville Predators. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Predators Sign Kevin Lankinen to One-Year, $2 Million Contract". Nashville Predators. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Canucks sign goalie Kevin Lankinen to one-year contract". Sportsnet. Canadian Press. 21 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Blackhawks' Kevin Lankinen: Making NHL debut". CBS Sports. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  20. ^ Karhapää, Susanna (8 June 2019). "Maalivahti Kevin Lankisen lukuharrastus on herättänyt valtavaa kiinnostusta, ja nyt hän kertoo, mitä kirjoja suosittelee ja miksi". Helsingin Sanomat (Finnish newspaper). Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  21. ^ Koivunen, Tommi (13 August 2019). "Leijonien MM-sankari Kevin Lankinen avasi oman lukupiirin: "Haluan esimerkilläni vaikuttaa nuorten lukuintoon"". Ilta Sanomat (Finnish newspaper). Retrieved 18 February 2021.
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