The Colorado Avalanche claimed goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. This coming two days after the team’s season-opening loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, which saw both Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen combine for seven goals against. The eighth goal Vegas scored was on an empty net.
The claiming of Kahkonen is not really a surprise. However, the timing of a move like this is definitely something that caught some people off guard. Why not make a move for a goaltender sooner? We know what Georgiev is. Annunen is basically an unproven player. I guess the team didn’t want to make some sort of trade that would involve a player with a higher cap hit, at least right now.
The move also comes after comments made by Mikko Rantanen following the team’s first loss of the season.
The Avalanche were right to make a move in-season, though. This gets Kahkonen ahead in terms of his immigration status, and he can join the team after that stuff gets resolved.
Who knows? The move to claim the goaltender could lead to a number of questions: For one, Could this mean that the Colorado Avalanche are already thinking of moving on from Georgiev? Are they possibly considering trading Georgiev this year (Probably not, in my opinion)? Might they send Justus Annunen down to the Colorado Eagles a bit longer to get him some more experience at a lower level?
The Avalanche drafted three goaltenders in the 2024 NHL draft, all with their first three selections. We’ll wait and see what happens with all three of them, but it’s another indication of the team throwing darts, which is always a good sign. I’d much rather them do that than stick with a goaltender who has been quite shaky since his arrival, despite earning the most wins off any goaltender last season.
Kahkonen has played in 139 career games, starting 131. He has a career save percentage of .899, a goals against average (GAA) of 3.33, and has only started more than 30 games in a season twice.
I didn’t expect the Avalanche to acquire a big-time goaltender (unless they shipped off someone with a big cap number, like I said earlier), but Kahkonen’s lack of true experience is a bit concerning. I’m not sure how much the needle is moved with this waiver claim.