Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Sharks Can Help Lightning With Vasilevskiy Injured
Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will be out the first two months of the season, and the San Jose Sharks can help them get through it.
Vasilevskiy underwent back surgery Thursday morning, leaving the Bolts with a big hole in the crease. Jonas Johansson now sits atop the depth chart.
The Swedish goalie has played just 35 NHL games and has a career save % of .887 and a career GAA of 3.32. It is far below what Lightning fans have become accustomed to with Vasy in goal.
San Jose Sharks netminder Kaapo Kahkonen was the subject of trade rumors this offseason. He was linked to the Pittsburgh Penguins amid the Erik Karlsson trade rumors.
REPORT: Penguins Have Interest In Kahkonen
Kahkonen has one year left in his contract with a $2.75 million cap hit. Vasilevskiy's cap hit is $9.5 million, and will now be eligible for LTIR.
According to PuckPedia, the Lightning are projected to be over the cap by $6.577 million when the season starts. With Vasy on LTIR, the Bolts can fit Kahkonen under the cap without issue.
San Jose also traded for and signed former New Jersey Devils netminder MacKenzie Blackwood to a two-year deal.
Kahkonen and Blackwood have shown they can play at a high level in the NHL. However, neither goalie has played for a stout defensive team like the Tampa Bay Lightning.
With the likes of Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev, the Bolts are a team built on a solid defense corps.
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Not to mention solid defensive forwards like Braden Point, Brandon Hagel, and Nick Paul.
It is pretty much NHL standard that if a goalie is being traded, the team won't trade the goalie within the same division and often within the same conference. The Sharks and Lightning are on opposite sides of the nation.
The Sharks acquired veterans who will be UFAs after this season or next. This allows more flexibility when trading.
If San Jose Sharks' GM Mike Grier were to make a deal involving Kahkonen, he could acquire more draft capital.
All projections have San Jose finishing near or at the bottom of the NHL standings. With Eetu Makiniemi and Georgi Romanov waiting in the wings, the San Jose Sharks may be more inclined to get something in return for Kahkonen.
Makiniemi looked good in his two NHL appearances last season, and the team thinks the world of Romanov.
"It's his first NHL game. I'm sure there's a lot of nerves," Quinn said last night. "[I'm] very excited about him as a prospect."
Kahkonen looked great in the San Jose Sharks' first preseason game, stopping 22/24 shots.
"I thought he was under control. I thought he was calm, feeling very confident," Sharks head coach David Quinn said after that game. "I thought there was an uptick in his play at the end of last year, and I think he's in a good spot mentally. I think he had a really good summer, and it was good to see that."
It might be a long shot, but don't rule out the possibility of the Lightning being interested in Kahkonen. With 12 days until the regular season begins, the Tampa Bay Lightning will want to act fast.
The Hockey News
The Hockey News
