Two days after allowing 8 goals in their season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, the Colorado Avalanche have added some NHL quality depth in goal with the waiver claim of Kaapo Kahkonen.
Kahkonen, 28, was waived by the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday afternoon as the Jets decided to go with Eric Comrie as the backup to star netminder Connor Hellebuyck. Now, instead of being AHL bound to play for the Manitoba Moose, Kahkonen will likely get the opportunity to play for the Avalanche.
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Despite losing that aforementioned backup role in Winnipeg, Kahkonen has shown that he is a capable NHL goaltender.
Although his numbers weren’t great playing behind the leagues’ worst San Jose Sharks last season, his play improved after being traded to the New Jersey Devils last March. While the sample size was small, the Helinski, Finland native managed to post an excellent .923 save percentage in 6 appearances with the Devils, despite going 1-4.
In Colorado, Kahkonen may get a chance to play some games as Alexandar Georgiev has been up and down in his time with the Avalanche and backup Justus Annunen just has 19 games of NHL experience. With 139 games under his belt, Kahkonen can provide needed experience in goal if called upon.
Over the course of his 5-year NHL career so far between the Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils, Kahkonen has gone 49-67-15 with a save percentage of .899 and a 3.33 goals against average.
