The State of the Chicago Blackhawks’ Goalie Situation

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Finland’s goalkeeper Kevin Lankinen saves the puck during the IIHF Men’s Ice Hockey World Championships Group A match between Finland and Germany on May 21, 2019 in Kosice, Slovakia. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images) /

Kevin Lankinen – Undrafted Free Agent signing in May 2018

Kevin Lankinen seems to be the most interesting one of the group heading into training camp.

He hadn’t played much last season, just 19 games with Rockford, going 7-12-1 with a .910 save percentage, and 6 games with Indy, going 4-2-0 with a .893 save percentage.

Not the most convincing numbers and his playing time was due to both Forsberg and Delia being down in Rockford for most of the 2018-19 season.

At age 24, you’d like to see a goaltender like Lankinen come into his own and set into his style of play.

Kevin Lankinen did just that for Team Finland in the 2019 IIHF World Championships in Slovakia this past May.

A 32-save shutout for @KLankinen in a 1-0 @leijonat semi-final win over @russiahockey

Here are some great stops from Kevin Lankinen #IIHFWorlds @goicehogs @NHLBlackhawks

More top plays >https://t.co/la1GD9Qazi pic.twitter.com/p3P4vShYQ0
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 25, 2019

In his team’s 10 games, he played in eight of them and won seven with a .942 save percentage.

Finland went on to stun Canada in the final to win gold. Not only was Team Finland a huge storyline during this tournament, but Lankinen was one of the notable players, and deservedly so.

Although this tournament goes on during the Stanley Cup playoffs, there’s still a large amount of all-star talent.

With Lankinen playing his best hockey at a time like this, it’ll be interesting to see how he performs with a full year in Rockford and a bigger opportunity to play.