The Vancouver Canucks have added another goaltender to their roster ahead of training camp but not the one that people were expecting.
According to reports, the Canucks were pursuing free-agent goaltender Kevin Lankinen. The Canucks also had talks with Antti Raanta according to Raanta himself, before he decided to end his NHL career and return to Europe. With Thatcher Demko uncertain to be ready for the start of the regular season, adding a veteran like Lankinen or Raanta would have made a certain amount of sense.
Whether it was because the Canucks couldn't offer Lankinen a big enough contract without being forced to use LTIR or because Demko's injury rehab is progressing more positively than anticipated, the Canucks appear to have gone in a different direction with their need for more goaltenders.
On Sunday, the Canucks announced that they have signed free-agent goaltender Dylan Ferguson to a professional tryout (PTO), which means he will attend the Canucks' camp and can play in preseason games but does not have a contract for the regular season.
Ferguson was born in Vancouver and grew up as a Canucks fan in Lantzville, B.C. He even skated on the Rogers Arena ice alongside Roberto Luongo for the national anthems as an 11-year-old back in 2010. He was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the seventh round in 2017 but was traded two days later to the Vegas Golden Knights as part of a deal for Marc Methot.
The 25-year-old goaltender has just three games of NHL experience, with the first coming back in 2017-18, not long after he was drafted. The then 19-year-old was forced into action for the Golden Knights after a series of injuries to their goaltenders, coming into a game in relief of Maxime Legace.
It took over five years for Ferguson to get his next game but it was a memorable one. By then he was with the Ottawa Senators organization and was called up with Cam Talbot injured. Ferguson made the first NHL start of his career and made 48 saves on 49 shots in a 2-1 victory. He played one more game for the Senators, making 30 saves on 34 shots in a loss, before heading back down to the Belleville Senators in the AHL.
Last season, Ferguson played in the KHL for HC Dinamo Minsk in Belarus. He posted a .904 save percentage in 23 games as backup to Philadelphia Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov.
With his minimal NHL experience, Ferguson is far from a long-term fix for the Canucks, which is probably a positive sign for Demko's health. But he does give the Canucks another goaltender for training camp and the preseason. If he impresses, maybe he could be signed to a one-year deal to fill in as a backup to Arturs Silovs until Demko returns, then battle for a spot in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks.
If he doesn't earn a contract, Ferguson can at least wear the jersey of the team he grew up cheering for and potentially play for real at Rogers Arena on the same ice Luongo played on.
