Avalanche claim G Kahkonen off waivers from Jets after ugly opener
Published
The Avalanche claimed goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen from the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
Kahkoken, 28, joined the Jets on a one-year, $1 million deal in the off-season but was beat out by Eric Comrie for the backup role in Winnipeg.
Kahkoken, 28, played 37 games between the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils last season, posting a 7-24-3 record with a 3.64 goals-against average and .898 save percentage.
The Avalanche now have three goaltenders on their roster with Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen. Both played in the team's season-opening loss with Annunen allowing two goals on four shots in just over 15 minutes of work after Georgiev was pulled for allowing five goals on 15 shots in the 8-4 loss.
“No question, the biggest issue was rush coverage and getting beat back up the ice on a couple of goals,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said after the loss. “They scored four goals on the rush. … The number of scoring chances we gave up was not an issue. We did some good things throughout the course of the game. Every time we got ourselves back in the game, we made another mistake. And every mistake we made ended up in the back of our net.”
Annunen, 24, went 8-4-1 with the Avalanche last season, posting a .928 save percentage and a 2.25 GAA. He was 14-5-4 at the AHL level with a .908 save percentage and a 2.65 GAA. He is under contract through next season at a cap hit of $837,500.
Georgiev, 28, was 38-15-5 as Colorado's starter last season with a .897 save percentage and a 3.02 GAA. He is signed through this season at a cap hit of $3.4 million and is scheduled for unrestricted free agency next summer.
Colorado will host the Columbus Blue Jackets in their second game of the season on Saturday.
Vegas claims Lavoie
The waiver movement for Raphael Lavoie continued on Friday with the Vegas Golden Knights claiming the 24-year-old forward from the Edmonton Oilers.
It marks the sixth straight day Lavoie has either been placed on or claimed off waivers by either the Oilers or Golden Knights.
Edmonton claimed Lavoie back from the Golden Knights on Wednesday, but he did not see any ice time in their disastrous 6-0 defeat in their season opener. The Oilers placed Lavoie back on waivers on Thursday.
Lavoie has played seven career NHL games with the Oilers, and has not registered a point in the NHL. He scored 28 goals in 66 games with Bakersfield last season.