Merilainen Gets the Net. It's That Simple Right Now.

Thatcher Demko is still out, Kevin Lankinen has been struggling, and so Leevi Merilainen is getting a look. That's where Vancouver's goaltending situation stands heading into the week.

This was the scenario the organization tried to plan around all summer. The Canucks brought in Chris Driedger on a professional tryout back in August specifically because the crease was unsettled, and Demko's absence from training camp was already a known complication before the puck dropped. Lankinen was always a bridge option, not a solution. The bridge is wobbling.

Merilainen is third on the depth chart by playing time, behind Nikita Tolopilo and Lankinen. Getting him into games now is less a vote of confidence than an acknowledgment of circumstance. The team is 2-8 over its last ten and on a four-game losing streak — not a moment where you can afford to leave anything untested in net.

How he handles the opportunity matters, even if the stakes feel modest. Vancouver needs to know what it has back there for the rest of the season. Demko's return timeline remains the variable that shapes everything else.