Blackhawks 2022 Player Grades Part 6: Kevin Lankinen

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Michael
June 17, 2022 (8:46 PM)

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Welcome backs Blackhawks fans to our hawksinsider.com 2022 player grade series. Today, we're going to be taking a look at netminder Kevin Lankinen. Coming into his sophomore season, Lankinen had to have been feeling good coming off what many would consider a decent rookie season. He had a record of 17-14 his rookie year with a save percentage of .909. Unfortunately for Lankinen, he took a step down in both of those categories for the 2021-2022 season. His record on the year was a lousy 8-15, with his save percentage also taking a dip to .891. Aside from literally a handful of moments this season, it really was a season to forget for Lankinen. And definitely one to improve on going into next season.

Season Grade: D-

The only thing saving Lankinen from a straight up F, his defensive support was pretty much non-existent throughout the entire season. So with little to no help in that area, hard to put his losses JUST on him. But more often than not, even with a rare good defensive game from the Blackhawks, Lankinen still was unable to get the win. Yes it is only year two, but if Lankinen wants to stay at the NHL level much longer, he cannot afford another dip in play like he experienced this year. Anything worse than this season, and it becomes very hard to justify keeping him around much longer.

Check out some Lank highlights below: