Comment: This Finnish player should be given the guts of the NHL season | Sport

Kaapo Kähkönen is one of the biggest Finnish surprises of the NHL season, writes Urheilu’s NHL reporter Tommi Seppälä.

On Boxing Day, Urheilu’s website published a list of Finnish surprises from the NHL season made by the undersigned. The names on the list deserved their place, but one was missing and it wasn’t Sven Tuuva this time.

I made a mistake when I left Kaapo Kähkönen without mentioning.

Kähkönen is undoubtedly one of the best Finnish stories of the NHL season. After the nightmarish last season, expectations were not particularly high, and expectations were not raised by the level of the team operating in front either. It was already clear in advance that San Jose’s place would be at the bottom of the Western Conference and, in fact, of the entire league.

However, Kähkönen has set up a clinic. The kind of clinic that you can put in the back of San Jose.

The most important consideration is related to how the goalkeeper from Helsinki has been able to turn the direction of his career. Kähkönen was traded a couple of years ago from Minnesota to San Jose and the start in the new environment was going well, but last season the Finnish keeper’s game went off the rails.

The long season brought only nine wins and the statistics were not for children to look at. Kähkönen allowed 24 more hits than expected. The reading was the second weakest in the entire NHL.

Now the situation has turned upside down.

Even though statistically the NHL’s worst defensive team is playing in front, Kähkönen is tearing everything possible out of himself behind the group. In the current season, San Jose has given the most dangerous goal chances, i.e. shots from the first sector, but Kähkönen has fought back as best he can.

For example, on the morning of New Year’s Day against Colorado, Kähkönen single-handedly kept San Jose in the game for 57 minutes. They got better saves than each other Mikko Rantanen led by Colorado’s star players to create inquiring glances in the direction of the upstairs.

However, San Jose lost because even Kähkönen couldn’t do anything about two completely untaken back post games. In their last goal in the 3–1 victory, Colorado hit an empty note.

Kähkönen’s save percentage in dangerous goal posts is the sixth highest in the entire league for those who have played at least 300 minutes. This shows that Kähkönen has really tried to give his team a chance. The fact that Kähkönen is able to do this behind a team that is always losing also says a lot about the goalkeeper’s character – it must be a strong act.

It is clear that Juuse Saros is the top name in the domestic – even slightly narrowed – goaltending field in the NHL, but if you look purely at the statistics, it’s Kähkönen. From any angle, this is a huge surprise. In addition to Saros, the highest expectations were loaded For Ville Husso and For Joonas Korpisalo. Better teams also play in front of them.

The season ends elsewhere?

Kähkönen’s excellent grips are still not new to those who follow the NHL. Kähkönen already played in Minnesota between 2019 and 2022 at a very high level at times. For example, in February 2021, Kähkönen won nine games in a row for the Wild. In February-May 2021, Kähkönen’s win balance was recorded as 13–4.

The change of direction in the career comes at an equally important point, as the 5.5 million dollar contract signed with San Jose in the summer of 2022 expires next summer. On the screens of the last season, the starting points for getting a new contract would have been grim. Now there are all kinds of options on the table.

San Jose is hardly in a hurry with Kähkönen, but the Finn’s excellent form has not been slept on in other clubs either. When the NHL’s transfer deadline arrives in March, San Jose will only put on sales pants, and in that rush, the direction of Kähkönen’s career may change.

There are clubs in the NHL that are hungry for success, but are struggling with goaltending, and Kähkönen’s contract (2.75 million/year) is not expensive. Kähkönen could be an attractive option, as there are also screens from previous seasons, especially from Minnesota. If the game goes so well behind San Jose, how would Kähkönen play behind a team that can defend?

Whether Kähkönen’s season ends in San Jose or somewhere else, the story is great. After a really difficult season, Kähkönen is playing behind a weak team in many places as if in a frenzy, which is certainly not easy – repeated losses are often not due to his own doing.

It’s hearty.

The latest Ikan änäri podcast discussed, among other things, the evolution of defenders, suitable teammates for Connor Bedard, trends in special situations and Finnish perspectives for spring.