Avalanche assign goalie acquisition on conditioning loan

The Avalanche announced on Thursday that they have assigned goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen to AHL Colorado on a conditioning loan. While on the minor league stint, Kahonen will still count against the salary cap and the 23-man roster.

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Kahonen, who’s yet to suit up anywhere in the regular season. He made a few exhibition appearances for the Jets after signing a one-year, $1M deal in Winnipeg during the offseason. However, he lost the backup job to Eric Comrie and landed on waivers shortly after the season started. Colorado claimed him, but visa issues relegated him to the non-roster list for a few days. He was reinstated ahead of this week’s contests, but he was a healthy scratch in their last two games while Justus Annunen started and Alexandar Georgiev backed up.

The loan can last up to 14 days, after which Kahonen would need to be placed on waivers again if the Avalanche want to keep him in the minors. The move is good news for Kahonen, who now gets the chance to get his feet wet after sitting on the shelf entirely for the past few weeks despite being medically available to play. The 28-year-old last played in the AHL with the Iowa Wild in 2019-20 while a part of the Minnesota organization, posting a .927 save percentage in 34 games en route to being named the league’s best goaltender.

Kahonen began last season in San Jose, posting a 6-20-3 record, .895 save percentage, 3.81 GAA, and -8.7 GSAA in 31 appearances for the Sharks. He was dealt to the Devils at the trade deadline, where he closed out the season with a strong .923 save percentage and 2.51 GAA in six appearances despite a 1-4-0 record. The Finland native has an .899 save percentage and 3.33 GAA in 139 career NHL appearances over the past five seasons.