Newly acquired Avalanche goaltender, Kaapo Kahkonen, finally joined the team since it claimed him off waivers more than a week ago.
“Obviously took a while to get all the work, work permits and visa done and, yeah, frustrating for sure,” Kahkonen said after optinal practice on Saturday. “Obviously, it’s just watching the games and not being able to be here with the guys and getting to know them, but really, really excited to be here now and to get finally going.”
The 28-year-old Helsinki, Finland native split the 2023-24 season between the San Jose Sharks (31 games played) and New Jersey Devils (6 GP), posting a combined 7-24-3 record, .898 Sv%, a 3.64 GAA and one shutout.
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The 6-foot-2, 217-pound netminder said he played with Mikko Rantanen and Joel Kiviranta and knew Artturi Lehkonen from their native country but just met Justus Annunen.
“You obviously want to try to kind of watch the games and learn and see what they’re doing. But I think at the end of the day, as a goalie, you know your your job is to stop the puck, and you go out there and you try to do that,” Kahkonen said. ” You learn, you get to know the guys and get more familiar but you just have to go there and play your game and do your job, and just like everybody else does.”
Head coach Jared Bednar said he will travel with three goalies and Kahkonen may play on the three-game road trip.
