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Kaapo Kähkönen
Born (1996-08-16)16 August 1996,
Helsinki, Finland
Height
Weight
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
223 lb (101 kg; 15 st 13 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
F. teams
Minnesota Wild
Espoo Blues
Lukko Rauma
NHL Draft 109th overall, 2014
Minnesota Wild
Playing career 2015–present

Kaapo Kähkönen (born 16 August 1996) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. He is currently playing with the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). Kähkönen was drafted by the Wild in the fourth round (109th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career[]

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 Rauma.[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, Kähkönen was recalled by the Wild during the 2019–20 season 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 goalie 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]

International play[]

Medal record
Ice hockey
Competitor for Flag of Finland Finland
World Junior Championships
Gold 2016 Helsinki
World U18 Championships
Bronze 2013 Sochi

Kähkönen represented Finland at the 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, where the team won gold.

Career statistics[]

Regular season and playoffs[]

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
2014–15 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
Liiga totals 117 38 50 27 6,876 278 9 2.43 .918 2 0 2 126 5 0 2.38 .921
NHL totals 5 3 1 1 305 15 0 2.96 .913

International[]

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 Gold medal icon 4 4 0 0 214 9 0 2.52 .909
Junior totals 16

Awards and honors[]

Award Year
Mestis
Best Goaltender 2015
First All-Star Team 2015
Rookie of the Year 2015
AHL
All-Star Game 2019
First All-Star Team 2020 [6]
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award 2020 [7]

References[]

  1. "Kaapo Kahkonen for Lukko" (in Finnish). Lukko Rauma (13 April 2016). Retrieved on 13 April 2016.
  2. "Wild signs Kahkonen to two-year, entry-level deal". Minnesota Wild (17 May 2018). Retrieved on 17 May 2018.
  3. "Wild announces roster moves". Iowa Wild (20 November 2019). Retrieved on 20 November 2019.
  4. "Kahkonen wins NHL debut as Wild edge Devils". The Sports Network (26 November 2019). Retrieved on 26 November 2019.
  5. "NHL admits error in coach's challenge decision on Devils goal". scoutingtherefs.com (26 November 2019). Retrieved on 26 November 2019.
  6. "2019-20 AHL First, Second All-Star Team announced". American Hockey League (May 20, 2020). Retrieved on May 20, 2020.
  7. KAHKONEN NAMED AHL GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR. Iowa Wild (26 May 2020). Retrieved on 26 May 2020.

External links[]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Alex Nedeljkovic
Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award
2019–20
Succeeded by
Incumbent
This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Kaapo Kähkönen. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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