He might not be an NHL superstar, but Finnish netminder Kevin Lankinen has proven to be a more than capable backup netminder during his NHL career. He garnered a winning record in three of his first four NHL seasons and turned in a save percentage of .908 or better in each of those three seasons.

Not bad for a goalie who was never drafted. Lankinen toiled for six seasons in Finland’s SM-liiga. His goaltending partners in Finland included fellow future NHLers Ville Husso and Niklas Backstrom. 

During the 2014-15 Finnish playoffs, Lankinen, playing for HIFK Helsinki, was the winning goalie in the longest game ever in SM-liiga history. He turned aside 58 shots for a 2-1 victory in a contest that endured through 134 minutes and 14 seconds of overtime.

Finally, an NHL team took notice of Lankinen’s ability. On May 21, 2018, he signed as a free agent with the Chicago Blackhawks. Lankinen played the 2018-19 season with the AHL Rockford IceHogs. That spring, he played sensationally as Finland won the gold medal at the IIHF World Hockey Championship. Lankinen went 7-1 with a 1.50 GAA, a .943 save percentage and two shutouts.

He’d make his North American breakthrough in 2019-20. Lankinen was named to play in the AHL All-Star Classic that season. His NHL debut with the Blackhawks came on January 19, 2021 against the Florida Panthers. The Finnish netminder would turn aside 25 shots in a 5-4 OT loss. 

Three days later, he’d make 30 saves in a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings for his first NHL victory. The Red Wings were also victimized for Lankinen’s first NHL shutout. He stopped 29 shots and assisted on Philipp Kurashev’s game-winning goal in a 2-0 victory. Lankinen’s 17 wins that season were third among NHL rookie goalies and the most by a first-year Chicago netminder since Corey Crawford’s 33 wins in 2010-11. 

Lankinen joined the Vancouver Canucks as a free agent during the 2024 offseason.