Lankinen was the Rockford IceHogs’ lone AHL All-Star game representative this season.
Chicago Blackhawks goaltending prospect Kevin Lankinen underwent successful left shoulder surgery on Monday, the Rockford IceHogs announced Thursday afternoon. The timetable for Lankinen’s return is expected to be four-to-five months.
Lankinen posted an 8-10-2 record with a 3.03 goals-against average and .909 save percentage in 21 appearances for the IceHogs in his second professional season. Last year, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound netminder 7-12-1 despite recording an impressive 2.50 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.
Last summer, Lankinen stood on his head in net for Team Finland during the IIHF World Championship. Only 2019 Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded a higher save percentage than he did. The 24-year-old finished the tournament 7-1-0 and was a big reason why Finland came away with the gold. Lankinen made a remarkable 43 saves in the gold-medal game against Team Canada.
Lankinen is set to become a restricted free agent come Jul. 1, and with the uncertainly surrounding Corey Crawford’s future, it seems likely that the Hawks bring back their Finnish goaltender.
For more Blackhawks news and updates, follow the author (@JackBushman2) on Twitter. Make sure to check out the author’s podcast, Talkin’ Hawkey, which can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Twitter (@TalkinHawkey).
