On Saturday, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/canucks-sign-kevin-lankinen-to-one-year-875000-contract">Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Alvin announced</a> that the organization has signed goaltender Kevin Lankinen to a one-year deal with a $875,000 cap hit through the 2024-25 season.

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The deal comes with a sigh of relief for the Canucks organization due to their starting netminder, Thatcher Demko, dealing with an ongoing lower-body injury he suffered during the opening round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Although Demko did take the ice for the Canucks training camp last week, the goaltender said there is still no timeline for his return into action.
Lankinen will be paired up with Arturs Silovs, who quickly became Vancouver&#8217;s saving grace following Demko&#8217;s injury during the playoffs.
However, suppose things had gone differently, and the organization chose not to sign Lankinen. In that case, the Canucks may have been starting the season with former Vegas Golden Knights netminder Jiri Patera behind Silovs.
Lakinen first signed with the Blackhawks in 2018 as an undrafted netminder, playing the majority of the 2018-19 season with the club&#8217;s American Hockey League affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. In 2020-21, Lakinen finally got a full-time roster spot, playing 37 games with a 17-14-5 record and a .909 save percentage. In 2022, the 29-year-old was traded to the Nashville Predators, becoming the backup behind Juuse Saros.
This past season, Lankinen posted a record of 9-8-1, a 2.75 GAA, and a .916 save percentage with the Predators.
<h2>Jets defenceman Ville Heinola out with ankle infection</h2>
On Friday, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/jets-ville-heinola-expected-to-miss-some-time-with-ankle-infection">Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel revealed that defenceman</a> Ville Heinola will miss some time due to an ankle infection.
Arniel disclosed that the infection came from a screw that had been inserted into the blue liner&#8217;s ankle during surgery last season. Although there is no set timeline for Heinola, Arniel told the media that the infection is not a short-term affliction, and the team expects him to be out of action for quite some time.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
An update on Simon Lundmark and Ville Heinola. <a href="https://t.co/Q1ItObUxDC">pic.twitter.com/Q1ItObUxDC</a>
&mdash; Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHLJets/status/1837219162835349636?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Not so good,&#8221; Arniel said. &#8220;This isn&#8217;t day-to-day, so we&#8217;re going to just come back around to this in a week or so and see where [Heinola&#8217;s] at…a little more serious than we thought.&#8221;
After the 2023-24 season, Heinola officially retired from his entry-level deal and signed a new two-year contract with a $800,000 AAV.
The ankle infection comes with poor timing as the 23-year-old was set to challenge for one of the spots on the blue line for the upcoming 2024-25 season. Last season, Heinola suffered a fractured ankle just before the official start of regular season play. He returned to action later in the season, not for Winnipeg, but for their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. In Manitoba, the blue liner scored 10 goals and 27 points.
Heinola has yet to return to the big stage on NHL ice since January 19th, 2023. However, the majority of his professional career has been spent moving back and forth between the Moose and the Jets since Winnipeg first drafted him 20th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Throughout five years of Heinola&#8217;s professional career, he has played in 35 NHL games with one goal and 11 points, with an additional 23 goals and 102 points throughout 152 AHL games.
<h2>Blue Jackets announce Rick Nash as new director of hockey operations</h2>
Former NHLer Rick Nash will be stepping into a new role for the 2024-25 season. 
On Friday, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/blue-jackets-promote-rick-nash-to-director-of-hockey-operations">Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell announced </a>Nash&#8217;s promotion to become their new director of hockey operations. 
Nash has been part of the Blue Jackets organization since being drafted by them as the first overall pick in the 2002 NHL Draft. After nine years with the team, he was traded to the New York Rangers, where he spent the next six years. He was traded again in 2018 to the Boston Bruins, where he made 11 appearances before retiring in 2019.
He returned to the club where it all started in June 2019 as a special assistant to the Blue Jackets&#8217; former general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen; however, he was promoted to director of player development in June 2021.
&#8220;Rick Nash is an extremely bright guy who has become an important part of our hockey operations leadership group,&#8221; <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/blue-jackets-name-rick-nash-director-of-hockey-operations?utm_source=social&amp;utm_medium=tw&amp;utm_campaign=release&amp;utm_content=hockeyops" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Waddell said in a release</a>. &#8220;He is very passionate about the Columbus Blue Jackets and this community and has been a great resource for me since I arrived here in late May. Rick made a significant impact on this organization as a player and will continue to do so in his role as director of hockey operations.&#8221;
Nash&#8217;s new role will see him involved in all areas of the team&#8217;s department and the advancement of player development within the club. 
This past year, Nash assumed another significant role off the ice: general manager for Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF Men&#8217;s World Championship in Czechia, where the Canadians placed fourth. 
In addition to announcing Nash&#8217;s new position, the club also promoted Basil McRae to director of pro scouting from his former role as assistant general manager. 
Zach Abdou has also been hired as senior manager of hockey operations to assist in database management, forecasting, budgeting, and contract analysis. 
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On Saturday, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/canucks-sign-kevin-lankinen-to-one-year-875000-contract">Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Alvin announced</a> that the organization has signed goaltender Kevin Lankinen to a one-year deal with a $875,000 cap hit through the 2024-25 season.


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The deal comes with a sigh of relief for the Canucks organization due to their starting netminder, Thatcher Demko, dealing with an ongoing lower-body injury he suffered during the opening round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Although Demko did take the ice for the Canucks training camp last week, the goaltender said there is still no timeline for his return into action.

Lankinen will be paired up with Arturs Silovs, who quickly became Vancouver's saving grace following Demko's injury during the playoffs.

However, suppose things had gone differently, and the organization chose not to sign Lankinen. In that case, the Canucks may have been starting the season with former Vegas Golden Knights netminder Jiri Patera behind Silovs.

Lakinen first signed with the Blackhawks in 2018 as an undrafted netminder, playing the majority of the 2018-19 season with the club's American Hockey League affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. In 2020-21, Lakinen finally got a full-time roster spot, playing 37 games with a 17-14-5 record and a .909 save percentage. In 2022, the 29-year-old was traded to the Nashville Predators, becoming the backup behind Juuse Saros.

This past season, Lankinen posted a record of 9-8-1, a 2.75 GAA, and a .916 save percentage with the Predators.
<h2>Jets defenceman Ville Heinola out with ankle infection</h2>
On Friday, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/jets-ville-heinola-expected-to-miss-some-time-with-ankle-infection">Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel revealed that defenceman</a> Ville Heinola will miss some time due to an ankle infection.

Arniel disclosed that the infection came from a screw that had been inserted into the blue liner's ankle during surgery last season. Although there is no set timeline for Heinola, Arniel told the media that the infection is not a short-term affliction, and the team expects him to be out of action for quite some time.

https://twitter.com/NHLJets/status/1837219162835349636

"Not so good," Arniel said. "This isn't day-to-day, so we're going to just come back around to this in a week or so and see where [Heinola's] at…a little more serious than we thought."

After the 2023-24 season, Heinola officially retired from his entry-level deal and signed a new two-year contract with a $800,000 AAV.

The ankle infection comes with poor timing as the 23-year-old was set to challenge for one of the spots on the blue line for the upcoming 2024-25 season. Last season, Heinola suffered a fractured ankle just before the official start of regular season play. He returned to action later in the season, not for Winnipeg, but for their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. In Manitoba, the blue liner scored 10 goals and 27 points.

Heinola has yet to return to the big stage on NHL ice since January 19th, 2023. However, the majority of his professional career has been spent moving back and forth between the Moose and the Jets since Winnipeg first drafted him 20th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

Throughout five years of Heinola's professional career, he has played in 35 NHL games with one goal and 11 points, with an additional 23 goals and 102 points throughout 152 AHL games.
<h2>Blue Jackets announce Rick Nash as new director of hockey operations</h2>
Former NHLer Rick Nash will be stepping into a new role for the 2024-25 season. 

On Friday, <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/blue-jackets-promote-rick-nash-to-director-of-hockey-operations">Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell announced </a>Nash's promotion to become their new director of hockey operations. 

Nash has been part of the Blue Jackets organization since being drafted by them as the first overall pick in the 2002 NHL Draft. After nine years with the team, he was traded to the New York Rangers, where he spent the next six years. He was traded again in 2018 to the Boston Bruins, where he made 11 appearances before retiring in 2019.

He returned to the club where it all started in June 2019 as a special assistant to the Blue Jackets' former general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen; however, he was promoted to director of player development in June 2021.

"Rick Nash is an extremely bright guy who has become an important part of our hockey operations leadership group," <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/blue-jackets-name-rick-nash-director-of-hockey-operations?utm_source=social&amp;utm_medium=tw&amp;utm_campaign=release&amp;utm_content=hockeyops" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Waddell said in a release</a>. "He is very passionate about the Columbus Blue Jackets and this community and has been a great resource for me since I arrived here in late May. Rick made a significant impact on this organization as a player and will continue to do so in his role as director of hockey operations."

Nash's new role will see him involved in all areas of the team's department and the advancement of player development within the club. 

This past year, Nash assumed another significant role off the ice: general manager for Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF Men's World Championship in Czechia, where the Canadians placed fourth. 

In addition to announcing Nash's new position, the club also promoted Basil McRae to director of pro scouting from his former role as assistant general manager. 

Zach Abdou has also been hired as senior manager of hockey operations to assist in database management, forecasting, budgeting, and contract analysis. 
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