By: Trent Leith / November 12, 2025 Welcome to Trent’s Train of Thought, a series that, instead of diving deep into one topic, touches on several. This edition has thoughts on the Keifer Sherwood problem, undeserved apathy and Lankinen Truthers rejoicing.
To Ink, or Not to Ink Keifer
Keifer Sherwood is one of the heartbeats of the Canucks. Last year he broke the NHL hit record and scored a career high 19 goals along the way. This season he has taken another step and has 11 goals in 18 games. He is on pace for 50 goals. He probably won’t sustain this pace, but what if he does?
Sherwood is also in the second year of a two year, $2M deal. Sherwood is the lovechild of Luke Schenn and Conor Garland, hits hard and just won’t quit on a puck. Ever.
Keifer is going to get paid, by someone. And the Canucks have the advantage of getting him paid now, before he raises his value even more. Will he let off the gas once a contract is signed? I doubt it, you can tell he only has one gear.
However, he could be the poster child for “the guy we got over paid for at the deadline and now he’s on a terrible contract and has had his production drop off.”
Who’s to say?
The Canucks Don’t Deserve This
The Canucks don’t deserve the apathy they have been receiving this season. I am as guilty as anybody else; the Blue Jays were just so captivating through their playoff run. Pair that with a heavily injured team and there’s not a lot of reason to turn off the baseball game.
I said it before, the bones of this team are good. Two years ago, Allvin told us that for the Canucks to make the playoffs, everything would need to go right. And it did. And the Canucks made the playoffs and won a round. Last year, absolutely nothing went right. There were too many injuries and I think there was a rumour of some locker room turbulence, idk. Oh, and the Canucks missed the playoffs.
This year, things are going terribly on the injury front, and Pettersson isn’t a Hart contender, and we all seem to have thrown in the towel. Was it the precedent the Blue Jays set? Is it a boring style of hockey? Is it just not fun watching a mostly injured team? Probably all of that. But we shouldn’t throw in the towel on this team yet. Things are weary and they are still certainly very in the hunt. Despite all the injuries, they have kept their head above water. As guys get healthy, don’t be surprised if the Canucks start climbing the standings.
Demko Gone Again, Lankinen Truthers Rejoice
Are we cooked? Nope, burnt to a crisp. At least we would be, if it weren’t for Lankinen.
On Tuesday night Demko mysteriously left the ice after just one period into his return from “maintenance and definitely not injury” despite being placed on IR.
And again, Demko is gone for what is reported to be 2-3 weeks. I don’t buy it.
Regardless of opinion on Demko’s return, injury or treatment. The point is, Lankinen is the starter for the next stretch. The Canucks new back? Jiri Patera. He is 26 years old and has played only 8 NHL games, with a 3-3-1 record. Don’t be surprised when Foote and friends lean heavily on Lankinen.
While it hasn’t been nearly as polarizing as some other Canucks issues, there is certainly a large group that didn’t love Lankinen’s big five year, $4.5M AAV deal to be a 1B goalie.
This is the exact scenario the Canucks were worried about when they signed him. Demko has an incredibly high ceiling. His ceiling is Vezina-calibre, but he gets hurt a lot. That’s why Demko only got a three year extension that starts next season.
When the goalies got signed, Demko had not returned to a steady roll in net, and the Canucks hedged their bets, paying maybe above market for a goalie they trusted to take over the starter’s roll should Demko get hurt.
Well folks, here we are. This is exactly why we signed Lankinen, as insurance. It was a pricey policy, but now we look to the near future with Lankinen instead of Patera. Lankinen has proven he can hold his own for stretches of a season while being the workhorse. Patera hasn’t. If the Canucks have any chance at the playoffs, it will be because of the Lankinen extension.
Can we all say “Thank you, Jim”?