In advance of the NHL Trade Deadline, former Minnesota Wild goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen has been traded to the Florida Panthers.
Kahkonen, 28, has had a crazy 2024-25 season. He played for the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils last season and signed with the Winnipeg Jets before this season.
He was placed on Waivers by the Jets at the start of the 2024-25 season and was claimed by the Colorado Avalanche. He played one game with the Avs and was claimed by the Jets.
The 6-foot-2 goaltender was then placed on waivers again by the Jets and has played in 22 AHL games with the Manitoba Moose, Winnipeg's AHL team, this year.
Kahkonen was a fourth-round pick by the Wild in 2014. He played in three seasons for the Wild and made his NHL debut with the Wild at the age of 23.
In 54 career games for the Wild from 2019 to 2022, Kahkonen went 31-17-4 with a .907 save percentage, 2.88 goals-against average, and two shutouts. He won the AHL Goaltender of the Year Award with the Iowa Wild in 2019-20.
The year he won the award, Kahkonen helped set Iowa's best regular-season record in franchise history. He led the AHL in wins and had a 25-6-3 record. He led the AHL in shutouts with seven, ranked fourth in goals-against average (2.07) and save percentage (.927) that season as well.
Kahkonen finished the 2019-20 season with a 10-1-1 record, 1.16 GAA, .961SV% and had five shutouts in his last 12 starts. He played in five NHL games that season and went 3-1-1 with a 2.96 GAA and a .913 SV%. He was eventually traded to the Sharks for Jake Middleton in 2022.