Kaapo Kahkonen

Kaapo Kähkönen Drawing Trade Interest

January 7, 2024 at 5:25 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain 2 Comments

In an article from Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, he passes along a note from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who claims that the San Jose Sharks are receiving trade interest in Kaapo Kahkonen. Although he was unable to directly link any team to Kahkonen, Freidman points out that the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils are all actively looking for goaltending help.

With a 9-28-3 record into January and the overarching narrative that the Sharks are firmly locked in on a lengthy rebuild, there is no doubt they will be sellers at this year’s trade deadline. Keeping this in mind, with teams having rumored interest in Kahkonen, and with an expiring contract, it is reasonable to assume that the Sharks would entertain the thought of moving him for the right price.

It has been the tale of two seasons up to this point for both of San Jose’s goaltenders, as Mackenzie Blackwood held down the fort for much of October and November, with Kahkonen taking back the net in December. Through the end of November, Blackwood held a .903 save percentage through 17 games, compared to a .889 save percentage from Kahkonen in only nine games. For whatever reason, once the calendar switched over to December, things completely flipped, as Blackwood only mustered a .847 save percentage through six games, and Kahkonen bounced back with a .914 save percentage in nine games.

Even with Kahkonen’s hot streak of late, at least for the team’s currently scouting for goaltending help, questions would certainly arise as to how much of an upgrade Kahkonen would be in net. With Stuart Skinner playing much better in Edmonton, and Pyotr Kochetkov giving the Hurricanes some stability, New Jersey may be the only realistic option for the Sharks. If they are unable to artificially create something resembling a bidding war, then San Jose may be better served by signing Kahkonen to an extension and trying to move him again next season.

Snapshots: Kahkonen, Three Stars, Minten

December 24, 2023 at 6:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 6 Comments

Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen is on an expiring contract, making him a candidate to be moved before the March 8th deadline. The 27-year-old told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that he likes the direction that the team is heading in and would be open to re-signing with San Jose although he’s unaware of any discussions on that front at this point. Kahkonen was traded two years ago when he was on an expiring deal, coming to the Sharks in a swap with Minnesota. He has a .899 SV% in 15 games this season, a number that’s a little below league average but with the state of their roster and their struggles this season, that’s not a bad showing. Accordingly, teams looking for help between the pipes might be inclined to inquire about Kahkonen in the coming weeks.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

With the games for the week now over due to the holiday break, the NHL released its weekly Three Stars today. Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov was named First Star on the heels of recording seven points in four games including back-to-back overtime winners. Rangers center Mika Zibanejad is the Second Star after also notching seven points in four contests. Meanwhile, Red Wings winger Patrick Kane takes home the Third Star nod after leading the league in scoring with eight points in his four appearances.
Maple Leafs prospect Fraser Minten has been named captain of Canada’s World Junior team, per an announcement from Hockey Canada (Twitter link). The 19-year-old made his NHL debut this season, getting into a pair of games before being sent back to the WHL where he has since been traded. Canada has four players with at least one game of NHL experience; all four of them are among the players who will be among their group of captains.

West Notes: Pavelski, Golden Knights, Killorn, Kahkonen

November 4, 2023 at 5:06 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain 4 Comments

On January 1st of this year, the Dallas Stars inked veteran forward, Joe Pavelski, to a one-year contract worth a total of $3.5MM. A notable decrease on the $7MM annually that Pavelski was earning in his first contract with Dallas, this new deal did include two performance bonuses worth a total of $1MM each.

Per CapFriendly, when Pavelski plays in his 10th game of the year, he will earn the first bonus, and he will earn the second bonus at 20 games played. Tonight, the Stars will take on the Vancouver Canucks, and if no lineup changes are made, Pavelski would be in line to secure the first $1MM performance bonus included in his contract.

Although typically a minor detail on most contracts, given that Dallas only has approximately $457K in cap space, this performance bonus earned by Pavelski will result in an overage penalty to the Stars, which will be applied to next year’s salary cap bottom line. Also, given his health and availability over the last three seasons with the Stars, the expectation is that Pavelski will make it to 20 games played, adding even more overage penalties to the Dallas organization next year.

Other notes:

Before tonight’s heavily anticipated Western Conference matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights, Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that forward William Carrier would be a game-time decision for Vegas, and that defenseman Zach Whitecloud will be out for the remainder of the weekend. Placed on LTIR at the beginning of the season, Whitecloud has been dealing with an upper-body injury suffered during this year’s preseason but has returned to practice with the team over the last couple of days.
Looking to make his debut with the Anaheim Ducks after signing a four-year, $25MM contract with the team this summer, Eric Stephens of The Athletic is reporting that Alex Killorn was seen practicing on a line with Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg, and will likely make his Ducks debut tomorrow night against the Golden Knights. In his absence, Anaheim has gotten off to a better start than most would have expected, climbing up in the standings thanks to a current five-game winning streak.
As hinted at in last night’s recall of goaltender Magnus Chrona, Sheng Peng of NBC Sports is reporting that San Jose Sharks’ netminder, Kaapo Kahkonen is out with an upper-body injury, and is considered day-to-day. Although Chrona is only in his first year with an NHL organization, San Jose could benefit from another option in the crease, as both of their regular goaltenders have failed to hold a SV% above .900 in the team’s first 10 games of the season.

West Snapshots: Spurgeon, Cronin, Zucker, Kahkonen

November 3, 2023 at 7:02 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain 2 Comments

At the beginning of the season, captain of the Minnesota Wild, Jared Spurgeon, was designated as ’week-to-week’ after suffering an upper-body injury in a preseason matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 5th. On October 25th, the team officially placed Spurgeon on the long-term injured reserve retroactive to the start of the regular season (October 12th), meaning Spurgeon would be out for 24 days and the team’s first 10 games.

Now that Spurgeon has satisfied his LTIR requirements, he is eligible to return to the team’s active roster for tomorrow night’s game against the New York Rangers. Unfortunately, Joe Smith of The Athletic is reporting that Spurgeon is still out, and recent callup, Daemon Hunt, will play in his stead.

Although it is a prudent move for any team not to rush back a key part of their team, getting Spurgeon back is becoming more and more imperative each game for Minnesota. Over the course of his career, Spurgeon has maintained a CF% (Corsi For %) above 50%, as well as an oiSV% (Team On-Ice Sv%) above 90%. For a team that is mightily struggling to keep the puck out of their own net, Spurgeon is an incredibly important piece for the Wild to get back into their lineup.

Other snapshots:

In a controversial disallowed goal during the Anaheim Ducks’ recent game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the new head coach of the Ducks, Greg Cronin, became very animated on the bench expressing his displeasure with the call by the referee. After the play was reviewed, the call on the ice stood, causing Cronin to use extremely colorful language toward the referee, earning him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as well as an ejection. Today, the NHL announced they have fined Cronin a total of $25K for the incident.
Out of the team’s lineup since their October 21st game against Anaheim, Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports that forward for the Arizona Coyotes, Jason Zucker should be expected back in the lineup on November 11th as the team takes on the Nashville Predators. Playing on a one-year contract this year, Zucker has put up two goals in his first five games as a Coyote.
Earlier today, Sheng Peng of NBC Sports reported that goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen is questionable for the San Jose Sharks matchup tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In that case, the team would have to recall a goaltender from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. If Kahkonen is unable to dress, it will make it a professional debut for either of the two goaltenders recalled from the Barracuda.

Pacific Notes: Kahkonen, Bear, Lavoie

June 10, 2023 at 2:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

It has been a bit of a rough go so far for goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen in San Jose. When then-GM Doug Wilson picked up the 26-year-old at the 2022 trade deadline, he was hoping that the Sharks might have their goalie of the future. The results haven’t been great, however, as Kahkonen had a 3.85 GAA with a SV% of just .883 in 35 games this season. Despite that, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that there are a few teams around the league that view him as a worthwhile reclamation project which could give him some trade value this summer. Kahkonen has one year left on his deal with a $2.75MM cap charge but at the moment, he is the only goaltender with meaningful NHL experience under his belt so it’s not a guarantee that GM Mike Grier will be open to moving him. If he is though, it appears that there will be some suitors.

Pacific Notes: Sharks Goalies, Labanc, Carrier

April 16, 2023 at 3:15 pm CDT | by Ethan Hetu Leave a Comment

Despite benefitting from a historic offensive performance from number-one defenseman Erik Karlsson and strong production from Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, the San Jose Sharks finished the 2022-23 season with the NHL’s fourth-worst record. Their 22-44-16 record in the first year of their David Quinn era put them in a prime position for next month’s draft lottery, but not exactly in a place to help their veteran players win a Stanley Cup. A significant factor contributing to the Sharks’ struggles this season was their goaltending, as neither of their regular netminders posted above an .890 save percentage.

Sharks fans, then, might be pleased to hear word from general manager Mike Grier, via The Athletic’s Corey Masisiak, that the team does not plan on bringing the same goalie tandem (James Reimer and Kaapo Kahkonen) into next season. Reimer, 35, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, while Kahkonen has another year left on his deal at a $2.75MM cap hit. Finding an experienced, capable partner for Kahkonen (.883 save percentage in 37 games) could be one of Grier’s top priorities for the summer.

Other Pacific Division notes:

Another Shark whose status is uncertain heading into the summer is winger Kevin Labanc, who scored 15 goals and 33 points this season and is making $4.75MM against the cap next season. Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka relays comments from Grier on Labanc’s future, with Grier saying “I can’t say whether he’ll be here. We’ll see what happens in the summer and what presents itself.” Labanc’s production has declined sharply since his 56-point 2018-19 season, and it’s worth noting that the Sharks could save nearly $4MM against the cap by buying out Labanc this summer, at the cost of nearly $2MM against the cap in 2024-25.
Vegas Golden Knights winger William Carrier was a surprise performer this season, flying past career highs to score 16 goals and 25 points in just 56 games. The 28-year-old has been with the Golden Knights since the franchise’s expansion draft and is under contract for $1.4MM through next season. He hasn’t played since a March 3rd contest against the New Jersey Devils, but thankfully for Vegas he could be nearing a return. Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy told the media, including The Athletic’s Jesse Granger, that Carrier could return during the first round against the Winnipeg Jets. That would be a significant addition to Vegas’ bottom six and would add some useful depth goal-scoring to an organization hoping to make another deep playoff run.

West Notes: Chychrun, Clarke, Klingberg, Kahkonen

February 12, 2023 at 3:31 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 10 Comments

Last night, the Coyotes made waves when they revealed that defenseman Jakob Chychrun was being sat for trade-related reasons. No immediate word came through about the likely destination for the 24-year-old but Sportsnet 590’s Nick Kypreos reports (Twitter link) that the Kings are now viewed as the team that’s likely to land the blueliner which would certainly give their back end a significant boost as they continue to jockey for position in the very tight Pacific Division.

Arizona has long been seeking a package of three first-round picks (players or comparable prospects) and Kypreos notes that defenseman Brandt Clarke is likely to be included should a deal be completed. The 19-year-old was the eighth overall pick in 2021 and made his NHL debut this season, getting into nine games with Los Angeles before being sent back to OHL Barrie where he has been dominant with 26 points in 14 games. If the trade does go through, he’d immediately become their top defensive prospect.

San Jose Sharks Recall Aaron Dell

November 26, 2022 at 1:29 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

Nov. 26: Dell is now back up with the Sharks, giving San Jose three goalies on their active roster for the time being.

Nov 25: After Reimer missed a game this week, he’s ready to go again and will start for the Sharks today. Dell has been returned to the AHL.

Nov 22: In a curious move, the San Jose Sharks have recalled Aaron Dell from the minor leagues, giving them a third goaltender on the roster. James Reimer was present at yesterday’s skate and Kaapo Kahkonen was outstanding in the team’s win over the Ottawa Senators.

Dell’s recall would suggest there might be an injury, though it is unclear which goaltender would be unavailable at this point. The Sharks are scheduled to travel to Seattle to take on the Kraken in a match tomorrow night, before returning to San Jose for a mini two-game homestand over the weekend.

In seven games for the San Jose Barracuda, Dell has posted a .904 save percentage. The 33-year-old netminder is back with the organization that gave him a chance at the NHL level, icing him 107 times over four seasons. Dell has struggled since leaving San Jose, and appears to be nothing more than a third or fourth-string option at this point.

Kahkonen stopped 37 of 38 saves against the Senators, bringing his save percentage up to .894 on the season. Reimer, the team’s starter, has a .906 in 14 appearances so far.

Examining Trade Options For San Jose’s Goalie Surplus

August 28, 2022 at 6:56 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 22 Comments

Generally speaking, extra depth is rarely a bad thing to have. That extra impact forward, carrying more than four top-four defensemen, these are often elements of successful teams. But that same argument doesn’t apply to goaltending as almost all of the time, carrying three is seen as less than ideal and teams will often move their extra option before too long.

San Jose is presently an exception to that idea as they’re carrying three NHL goaltenders in Kaapo Kahkonen, Adin Hill, and James Reimer. All three are on short-term deals (Reimer and Hill have one year left and Kahkonen two) and all three make between $2.1MM and $2.75MM. At least from a contract standpoint, they’re more or less interchangeable.

But Kahkonen was brought in from Minnesota at the trade deadline and then given the two-year deal so it stands to reason that they don’t want to move him. That leaves the 26-year-old Hill and the 34-year-old Reimer as their two trade options with the latter only making $75K more than the former. The Sharks might prefer to keep the younger Hill but his trade value might be better depending on who shows interest.

With that in mind, let’s examine some of the teams that might be interested in adding one of San Jose’s netminders even with most of the goalie movement being done for the summer.

Arizona

The Coyotes know they don’t have their backup goalie on the roster yet. Karel Vejmelka is unproven as a starter so adding a second netminder that could play close to half the games wouldn’t hurt. Yes, they’re a team with an eye on the future but they can still try to lose competitively. Would they trade for Hill after moving him to San Jose just over a year ago or would they prefer Reimer? If not one of them, they’ll be watching the waiver wire in October.

Minnesota

There isn’t a true opening with Marc-Andre Fleury as the starter and Filip Gustavsson as the backup but Gustavsson is coming off a tough 2021-22 campaign with Ottawa. Playing Fleury heavy minutes would carry some risk so while Gustavsson is the backup of the future, GM Bill Guerin might want to assess if they’d be better off with a more reliable second option even if it forces them to turn around and carry three goalies with Gustavsson now being waiver-eligible.

Philadelphia

Back in May, it looked like the Flyers had their goalie situation figured out as they were able to sign highly-touted prospect Ivan Fedotov to partner up with Carter Hart. However, the netminder is now serving in the Russian military which will take him out of the equation. Felix Sandstrom is likely next in line but has just five career NHL appearances under his belt. Philadelphia is looking for more short-term success so adding a more proven backup is something GM Chuck Fletcher will likely be looking into.

Vegas

Following the season-ending hip surgery for Robin Lehner, GM Kelly McCrimmon came out and said his intention is to go with Logan Thompson and Laurent Brossoit as their tandem. Thompson has shown promise but his NHL experience is limited while Brossoit has been hit and miss in his career. If things don’t go well early on, they could look to turn to San Jose for a chance at an upgrade.

Washington

This might seem a little odd considering that they just signed Charlie Lindgren to a three-year deal to be Darcy Kuemper’s backup. But Lindgren’s cap hit is right at the line of being fully buriable in the minors if a better option presents itself. Their LTIR situation with Nicklas Backstrom gives them some extra flexibility to add a short-term deal so if they trust Reimer or Hill over a goalie that has just 29 games of NHL experience and finished up the AHL playoffs as the backup, GM Brian MacLellan will likely check in on what that upgrade would cost.

Winnipeg

They added David Rittich as a low-cost backup early in free agency, handing him a one-year, $900K contract. That can be fully buried in the minors if a better option presents itself. The Jets still have considerable cap space at their disposal and are a team with an eye on winning in the present so if they aren’t able to add at other positions, turning around and upgrading Connor Hellebuyck’s backup would be a reasonable backup plan.

Obviously, not all of these teams are going to make a move between the pipes in the coming weeks so the options for GM Mike Grier are going to be limited. If he wants to get top value – the asking price for Reimer is believed to be a second-round pick – he might have to wait until the season starts to see if injuries force someone’s hand. Otherwise, it will be a limited market for whichever one he decides to move. Surplus quality depth at most positions is usually a good thing and could yield a strong return in a trade but for goaltenders, it’s just not the case.

San Jose Sharks Sign Luke Kunin, Kaapo Kahkonen

July 18, 2022 at 3:24 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 4 Comments

The San Jose Sharks have signed Luke Kunin to a two-year contract, according to PuckPedia. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2.75MM. Kunin was eligible for salary arbitration this summer but chose not to file. Sharks general manager Mike Grier also announced Monday afternoon that the team has signed goalie Kaapo Kahkonen to a two-year contract. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the deal carries a cap hit of $2.75MM.

Kunin, 24, was acquired from the Nashville Predators this offseason in exchange for John Leonard (who also signed today) and a third-round pick. The young forward has changed his game in recent years to lean into his physicality, and after racking up a whopping 223 in 2021-22, he offers something new to the San Jose bottom six.

There’s also a bit of offensive skill in the 2016 first-round pick, who has double-digit goals in each of his last three seasons, all of them coming at even-strength or while short-handed. That kind of scoring upside will come in handy as the Sharks start to tear apart the old core and rebuild it under new general manager Mike Grier.

Notably, it will leave Kunin as a restricted free agent at its expiry, giving the Sharks a chance to re-assess whether he can be a long-term solution. He will once again be up for arbitration at that point.

Kahkonen excelled after San Jose acquired him at the Trade Deadline from the Minnesota Wild. The 2020 AHL Goalie of the Year had just a 2-6-1 record, but that was no fault of his own, posting a more-than-respectable .916 save percentage in 11 games played (10 starts). Kahkonen has a career .908 save percentage through 65 NHL games, 54 of which came with the Wild. He’ll join a crowded crease in San Jose next year that also includes James Reimer and Adin Hill.

The 25-year-old Finn will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024 when his new contract expires.

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