Canucks' Goalie Woes: Overpaid Vets vs. Rebuild

It's March 28th.

Welcome to NHL News Today, AI-powered coverage of your squad.

I'm Corey with the story.

The Vancouver Connux are deep into a rebuild after crashing to the bottom of the NHL standings

this season.

Their biggest headache is goal tending, with that your Demko and Kevin Lankinan eating

up $13 million in cap space combined.

Demko's elite went healthy, but he's out until the 2026-2027 season after hip surgery,

carrying an 8.5.

Lankinan's $4.5 million deal runs through 2030, even after his play dropped off behind

a weak defense.

Meanwhile, the team traded young goalie Arterra's sial offs last summer for veteran stability

and now he's shining in Pittsburgh.

The 25-year-old has a 16 wins, 10 losses, 8 ties record, multiple shutouts, and even

second star of the week honors, all on just an $850,000 cap hit.

The Nux fans are kicking themselves, watching him carry the penguins toward playoffs while

Vancouver pays 15 times more for aging netminders.

This hits hard for a squad that shipped out Quinn Hughes to stockpile youth, making those

expensive 30-something goalies a total mismatch for the rebuild.

Management faces backlash for prioritizing vets over the future, turning what look like

depth into a cap nightmare that blocks draft picks and cheap prospects.

Now the pressure's on with Nikita Tullopilo, a 6-foot-6 Belarusian who's impressed in

call-ups.

Next season, the 26-year-old loses waver exemption, so sending him down risks, every team claiming

him for free on a minimum deal.

No movement causes Lockdown Co until mid-2026 and Lankinan through 2027, leaving a narrow

summer window to trade one.

Without their OK, the Connux have top odds for the number one pick in 2026, so they got

a clear space for Tullopilo to grow through the rebuild pains.

Learning from the silo's fumble means ditching overpaid vets, not repeating history in the