| Kaapo Kähkönen | |
| Birth Date: | 16 August 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Helsinki, Finland |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 2 |
| Weight Lb: | 217 |
| Position: | Goaltender |
| Catches: | Left |
| League: | NHL |
| Team: | Winnipeg Jets |
| Former Teams: | Espoo Blues Lukko Minnesota Wild San Jose Sharks New Jersey Devils |
| Draft: | 109th overall |
| Draft Team: | Minnesota Wild |
| Draft Year: | 2014 |
| Career Start: | 2015 |
Kaapo Kähkönen (born 16 August 1996) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Kähkönen was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the fourth round (109th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Kähkönen played as a youth in his homeland within the Espoo Blues organization. He made his professional debut on loan to TUTO Hockey of the Mestis in the 2014–15 season before returning to make his Liiga debut with the Blues during the following 2015–16 Liiga season.
On 13 April 2016, Kähkönen left the Blues in order to be exposed to more playing time. He agreed to a two-year contract with Lukko.[1]
In the 2017–18 season, Kähkönen produced career best markers in leading the Liiga in games played, minutes and shutouts.
Upon completion of his two-year pact with Lukko, Kähkönen agreed to a two-year, entry-level contract with his draft club, the Minnesota Wild, on 17 May 2018.[2] In his second year in North America, during the 2019–20 season, Kähkönen was recalled by Minnesota from AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, on 20 November 2019.[3] After serving as backup for two games, he became just the fourth Minnesota Wild goaltender to be given a start for his NHL debut against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on 26 November 2019. He made 32 saves, recording his first career victory in a 3–2 win over the Devils.[4] Kähkönen officially conceded his first goal against to Devils' rookie Jesper Boqvist, despite the NHL later admitting error from an incorrect ruling in a coach's challenge review from the Wild.[5]
In the 2020–21 season, Kähkönen became a full-time NHL player, serving as the backup to Cam Talbot. Between 18 February and 16 March 2021, he won nine consecutive games while being a starter, putting up a .947 save percentage and getting two shutouts during the winning streak.[6]
During the 2021–22 season, on 21 March 2022, Kähkönen was dealt at the NHL trade deadline to the San Jose Sharks, in exchange for defenceman Jacob Middleton and a fifth-round draft selection.[7] As a restricted free agent in the following off-season, Kähkönen was re-signed to a two-year, $5.5 million contract extension with the Sharks on 18 July 2022.[8]
On 8 March 2024, Kähkönen was traded to the New Jersey Devils for Vítek Vaněček and a 2025 seventh-round pick.[9]
On 1 July 2024, Kähkönen signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets. [10]
Kähkönen represented The Finnish men's national under 20 ice hockey team at the 2015 and 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, where the team won gold.
In the 2015 tournament, he was the team's third goalie, behind Juuse Saros and Ville Husso, and did not receive any playing time.
In 2016, Kähkönen started the tournament as the second goalie option behind Veini Vehviläinen, but ended up playing more as the tournament progressed. Ultimately it was Kähkönen who led the team to its 4th gold medal, after being substituted for Vehviläinen against Canada in the quarterfinal game in the second period.
Kähkönen then made 21 saves in a 2–1 win against Sweden in the semifinals [11] before helping his team beat Russia 4–3 in the gold medal game in overtime making 22 saves.[12]
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 2012–13 | Espoo Blues | Jr. A | 28 | — | — | — | 1676 | 68 | 4 | 2.43 | .917 | 12 | — | — | 628 | 28 | 2 | 2.68 | .901 | ||
| 2013–14 | Espoo Blues | Jr. A | 38 | — | — | — | 2279 | 91 | 3 | 2.39 | .911 | 10 | — | — | 599 | 21 | 0 | 2.10 | .915 | ||
| TuTo | Mestis | 47 | — | — | — | — | 92 | — | 2.11 | .925 | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | 1.95 | .934 | |||
| 2015–16 | Espoo Blues | Liiga | 27 | 6 | 15 | 5 | 1581 | 71 | 1 | 2.69 | .908 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | TuTo | Mestis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.000 | 6 | — | — | — | 18 | — | 3.03 | .885 | ||
| 2016–17 | Lukko | Liiga | 34 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 2020 | 87 | 2 | 2.58 | .921 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Lukko | Liiga | 56 | 20 | 23 | 12 | 3275 | 120 | 6 | 2.20 | .920 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 126 | 5 | 0 | 2.38 | .921 | ||
| 2018–19 | Iowa Wild | AHL | 39 | 17 | 14 | 8 | 2373 | 110 | 6 | 2.78 | .908 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Iowa Wild | AHL | 34 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 2058 | 71 | 7 | 2.07 | .927 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 305 | 15 | 0 | 2.96 | .913 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 24 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 1414 | 68 | 2 | 2.88 | .902 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 25 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1381 | 66 | 0 | 2.87 | .910 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 11 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 566 | 27 | 0 | 2.86 | .916 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 37 | 9 | 20 | 7 | 2,107 | 135 | 1 | 3.85 | .883 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 31 | 6 | 20 | 3 | 1651 | 105 | 0 | 3.81 | .895 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 263 | 11 | 1 | 2.51 | .923 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Liiga totals | 117 | 38 | 50 | 27 | 6,876 | 278 | 9 | 2.43 | .918 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 126 | 5 | 0 | 2.38 | .921 | ||||
| NHL totals | 139 | 49 | 67 | 15 | 7,686 | 427 | 4 | 3.33 | .899 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Finland | U17 | 7th | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4.48 | .858 | |
| 2013 | Finland | IH18 | 5th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 174 | 10 | 0 | 3.45 | .881 | |
| 2014 | Finland | U18 | 6th | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 269 | 15 | 0 | 3.37 | .886 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WJC | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 214 | 9 | 0 | 2.52 | .909 | ||
| Junior totals | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Award | Year | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mestis | |||
| Best Goaltender | 2015 | ||
| First All-Star Team | 2015 | ||
| Rookie of the Year | 2015 | ||
| AHL | |||
| All-Star Game | 2019 | ||
| First All-Star Team | 2020 | [13] | |
| Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award | 2020 | [14] | |