Winnipeg Jets goaltender claimed off waivers by the Colorado Avalanche
Photo credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
After putting Kaapo Kahkonen on waivers, the Winnipeg Jets took a chance, and the Colorado Avalanche quickly claimed him.
The 28-year-old Kahkoken signed a $1 million, one-year contract with the Jets during the off-season, but Eric Comrie won the backup position in Winnipeg. In an attempt to send Kahkonen down to the American Hockey League, the Winnipeg Jets placed him on waivers.
In his 37 games last season, Kahkoken, 28, split his time between the San Jose Sharks and the New Jersey Devils. He finished with a 7-24-3 record, 3.64 goals-against average, and.898 save percentage.
Justus Annunen and Alexandar Georgiev, who are presently ranked second and third on the Colorado roster, both had difficult games in the team's opening-round defeat by the Vegas Golden Knights. Georgiev was substituted after Georgiev gave up five goals on sixteen shots, and Annunen gave up two goals on five shots.
«No question, the biggest issue was rush coverage and getting beat back up the ice on a couple of goals,» Colorado coach Jared Bednar said after the loss. «They scored four goals on the rush. The number of scoring chances we gave up was not an issue. We did some good things throughout the course of the game. Every time we got ourselves back in the game, we made another mistake. And every mistake we made ended up in the back of our net.»
With the Avalanche last season, Annunen, 24, went 8-4-1 with a 2.25 GAA and a.928 save percentage. With a 2.65 GAA and a.908 save percentage, he was 14-5-4 in the AHL. He has a contract that pays a cap hit of $837,500 through the following season.
The 28-year-old Georgiev started for Colorado last season and went 38-15-5 with a 3.02 GAA and.897 save percentage. He has a $3.4 million cap hit on his contract through this season, and next summer, he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency.
Kahkonen was reportedly a player the Avalanche had their eye on since the previous season. Despite being dealt to the New Jersey Devils at the trade deadline, he is now a member of the Colorado Avalanche.
With Thomas Milic now ranked as the No. 3, the Jets must look to add more depth in case of an injury. Eric Comrie wasn't anticipated to be the team's backup goalie this season, so this raises questions for the Jets as well. Though the team will rely on Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck in the event of an injury or bad break, there is still a lot of work to be done before this team can contend for the Stanley Cup.
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