Kevin Lankinen

Lankinen played 32 games for Chicago a season ago, with most of them coming down the stretch following Marc-Andre Fleury's trade to Minnesota. The numbers were horrific (8-15-6 record, 3.50 GAA, .891 save percentage), which was not all that surprising considering how terrible the Blackhawks played as a team defensively. Lankinen should find himself in a considerably better situation this time around on the heels of his new one-year deal with Nashville. The 27-year-old will serve as the backup to Juuse Saros, which is not a gig that is conducive to fantasy production due to a lack of playing time.

Lankinen had never seen NHL action prior to last season, but that didn't stop the Blackhawks from running him out there for 37 of their 56 games in 2020-21. Lankinen's numbers - 17-4-5 record, 3.01 GAA, .909 save percentage - appear a tad underwhelming on the surface but are actually quite good considering the rate at which Chicago hemorrhaged scoring chances a year ago. Lankinen's extended audition wasn't enough to keep Blackhawks management from going out and acquiring reigning Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury from the Golden Knights following the year. Fleury is going to get the lion's share of the playing time for Chicago even at his advanced age, giving Lankinen little-to-no fantasy value unless an injury strikes.