Kaapo Kahkonen and Mackenzie Blackwood will lead the crease this season, hoping to find the game that got them to the NHL.
Both Mackenzie Blackwood and Kaapo Kahkonen were acquired via trade. Now both goalies will be asked to lead the crease.
Blackwood has experience as a number-one netminder. During the 2019-20 season, Blackwood played in 47 games and had a 2.77 GAA and a .915 save %.
His record was 22-14-8 on a New Jersey Devils roster that struggled defensively. The overall record for the Devils that season was 28-29-12, meaning that the team could not win other than six games without Blackwood in goal.
Although Blackwood has dealt with injuries recently, his ability to be an effective NHL goalie has been seen. He is only 26, which should be the start of the prime of his career.
His mobility and focus is what his game is built on. A strong lower half allows the netminder to stay low and stop everything he can see.
Goalies switching into a new system after changing teams can sometimes have an adjustment period. The San Jose Sharks' defense core is not the best and will seemingly get worse once Erik Karlsson gets traded. Blackwood has shown an ability to carry a team to relevance behind struggling defense.
Kaapo Kahkonen looks to be on his last chance with the San Jose Sharks. Like Blackwood, at 26 years old, he should be entering the prime of his career.
When the San Jose Sharks acquired Kahkonen in 2022, he immediately showed his promise.
In 11 games, he had a .916 save % and a 2.86 GAA. Like the Devils in 19-20, the Sharks were not a very good team, yet Kahkonen gave San Jose a chance to win.
It wasn't butterflies and rainbows during his first full season for Kahkonen. In 37 games in 22-23, Kahkonen's save % took a free fall to .883. His GAA skyrocketed up almost an entire goal to 3.85.
There was a flash of his game rounding into form after the all-star break in February.
In seven games in Feb., the Finish netminder had a .929 save % and a 2.41 GAA. Kahkonen displayed the skill and ability to save the puck reliably.
The Sharks and head coach David Quinn will need Kahkonen to use his skating ability and flexibility to make the extra save, given where the defense is headed.
During his exit interview in April, Kahkonen said he would return to Finnland and work with a goalie coach. A lot of his mistakes last season involved him overplaying the puck/chasing the save.
The tandem of Blackwood and Kahkonen will be asked to do a lot for a team deep in a rebuild. The silver lining for both goalies is that both have shown promise to help carry a struggling team to relevance.