The Canucks were finally able to agree to terms with Kevin Lankinen on Saturday, signing him to a one-year contract worth $875,000. Lankinen played in 24 games with Nashville in 2023-24 as Juuse Saros's backup, finishing with a solid 11-6-0 record with a 2.82 GAA and .908 SV%.

The main takeaway from the Lankinen signing is that it should signal that Thatcher Demko won't be ready to start the regular season. Demko continues to practice separately from the main group at training camp, but he should now be given as much time as he needs to recover from the mysterious knee injury that does not seem to have a timeline for full recovery.

Based on last season's playoff performance, I'd still have to assume that Arturs Silovs is the opening-night starter. However, Lankinen should start with more frequency than he did in Nashville while Demko is out of the lineup. Once Demko is ready to return, Silovs seems more likely to be the goalie to return to the AHL, as he is currently waivers-exempt. However, the Canucks could try to manage having three goalies in the lineup with their AHL team in nearby Abbotsford. Demko is looking at a reduced workload once he's ready to return in order to preserve his health.

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Yesterday I wrote about some players that I added in my recent auction league draft. Today I'm profiling several lesser-ranked players that I recently added to the same team, with two that I'm revisiting after Bubble Keeper Week. 

Nick Schmaltz

For some reason, Schmaltz was one of the few players that only received a single bid, and I've seen some bidding wars in this league over what I think are lesser players. Here's why I'm surprised about that: Schmaltz reached a career-high 61 points in 79 games in 2023-24, even though his point-per-game pace had decreased over the previous two seasons. In those two seasons, Schmaltz was not far off from a point-per-game pace (0.94 PTS/GP, 0.92 PTS/GP), but was held to just 63 games each season due to injuries. Schmaltz actually showed point-per-game potential late last season, registering 29 points over his last 26 games.

Utah is an up-and-coming team, which could be a double-edged sword for Schmaltz. On one hand, more talent around him could help improve his numbers and perhaps get him near the point-per-game mark again. On the other hand, the former Coyotes may not be so reliant on him, possibly decreasing his icetime below the 19+ minutes per game he has averaged over the past two seasons. A projection of 60 points seems reasonable for him, provided he can stay healthy for nearly all of the season. Schmaltz is listed as a Band-Aid Boy because he had missed 19 games in both 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Frank Vatrano

You may recall that Vatrano busted out of the gate last season with 13 goals and 21 points in his first 22 games. He was a very popular grab on the waiver wire, with writers like me doubting whether that was sustainable. Sure enough, Vatrano scored eight more goals per quarter to finish with a career high of 37 goals. He also smashed his previous career high of 41 points (set the season before) with a new career best of 60 points.

Sure, Vatrano benefitted from a 13.6 SH%, which was also a career best. Yet he helped his own cause by increasing his shot rate (3.3 SOG/GP). That resulted in 272 shots for the season, which was also a career best and also in the league's top 20. The question now turns to what he might be able to do for an encore.

Vatrano seems to be a great fit for the rebuilding Ducks, providing a veteran presence on a young team. However, he is on an expiring contract, which means he is possible trade bait at the deadline. His deployment on a contender might not be so favorable, which is something to consider. Beyond that, he'll have to find the right team that will grant him the icetime that he has received in Anaheim (16-18 minutes per game) compared to his other previous teams (13-15 minutes per game). Part of that increase is also in the form of power-play time.

So why exactly would I draft Vatrano? He should continue to score at a 50-60-point pace while in Anaheim. In addition, the Ducks are the light night champions again, playing in a league-leading 41 games that feature eight or fewer games. That means Vatrano and other Ducks will face the fewest number of scheduling conflicts among any team. Sometimes we have to look past the simple point projections to obtain every edge that we can.

Jake DeBrusk

I featured DeBrusk during Bubble Keeper Week, and I also wrote the Fantasy Take on his signing with the Canucks. I don't feel the need to reiterate what I had written then, so feel free to click on the links!

To update what I wrote during Bubble Keeper Week, I let DeBrusk go to free agency and was able to add him again for a lower price. He wasn't necessarily someone I was targeting, but I think there's the potential for career highs with his new team, especially when the Canucks have committed seven years to him. For what it's worth, the Canucks are testing out DeBrusk with Elias Pettersson and top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki early on in training camp.

Jordan Spence

Spence was also a Bubble Keeper of mine that I did not retain but decided to bid on during the auction. Quite honestly, I was surprised that no one else bid on him, especially since defensemen go at a premium in this league. Not only is the pool of offensive-minded defensemen limited, but defensemen in this league are also awarded additional points for goals and assists.

Perhaps the view of my league mates is that Spence is the third d-man on the Kings' power play pecking order behind Drew Doughty and Brandt Clarke. That may be true, but Spence has been a high scorer at the AHL level (87 points in 103 games). He probably isn't someone I'm targeting in standard Yahoo leagues yet, but he's worth keeping an eye on in the event he can put together some kind of scoring run and chip in a few power-play points.

Semyon Varlamov

I threw out a whole bunch of bids on different goalies – both starter and backup – and the only goalie that no one else placed a bid on was Varlamov. That seems like a bit of a surprise to me, considering the recent injury rumblings regarding Ilya Sorokin. Reports are that Sorokin underwent offseason surgery to address a back injury, but he is expected to be ready to start the season on time.

Remember that Varlamov started down the stretch and into the playoffs last season for the Islanders. It seemed like Patrick Roy was simply riding the hot hand, but Sorokin was reportedly battling something. I'm not sure whether that was related to the injury from offseason training. Roy doesn't seem afraid to start Varlamov, which means that he could receive at least a few starts early in the season so that Sorokin is not overworked.

I usually don't debate the projections from the Fantasy Guide here, but I'll make an exception for Varlamov. Currently he is projected to play in just 27 games. I'd bet the over on that, as I think he should play in at least 30 games if he stays healthy all season. In a deep enough league, Varlamov might be a valuable handcuff to Sorokin or simply worth drafting on his own. The best part about Varlamov? He won't cost much, which is ideal if you believe in the Zero G theory. 

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