Kaapo Kähkönen (born 16 August 1996) is a Finnish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

for the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). Kähkönen was drafted by the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

in the fourth round (109th overall) of the

2014 NHL Entry Draft The 2014 NHL Entry Draft was the 52nd NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 27–28, 2014 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The top three selections were Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart and Leon Draisaitl, going to the F ...

Playing career

Kähkönen played as a youth in his homeland within the

Espoo Blues The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season. History The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...

organization. He made his professional debut on loan to

TUTO Hockey TUTO Hockey (Turun Toverit) is a Finnish ice hockey team based at the Kupittaan jäähalli (capacity 2,875, inauguration in November 2006). Established in 1929, TUTO plays in Turku, Finland, and is one of two clubs in that city (the other being ...

of the

Mestis Mestis (from fi, Mestaruussarja, meaning 'Championship series') is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division' ...

in the 2014–15 season before returning to make his

Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding lea ...

debut with the Blues during the following

2015–16 Liiga season The 2015–16 Liiga season was the 41st season of the Liiga (formerly SM-liiga), the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. Teams Regular season Top six advanced straight to quarter-finals, while teams betw ...

. 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 Rauman Lukko (Finnish for "lock") is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, best known for its men’s professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently plays in the Fi ...

. 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

, on 17 May 2018. In his second year in North America, Kähkönen was recalled by the Wild during the 2019–20 season from AHL affiliate, the

Iowa Wild The Iowa Wild are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, that began play for the 2013–14 season. The team plays at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, as the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild. The team was f ...

, on 20 November 2019. 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 Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Hal ...

on 26 November 2019. He made 32 saves, recording his first career victory in a 3–2 win over the Devils. 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. In the 2020–21 season, Kähkönen became a full-time NHL player, serving as the backup to

Cam Talbot Cameron Talbot (born July 5, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He had also played for the New York Rangers, the Edmonton Oilers, the Calgary Flames, the Philadelp ...

. 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. During the 2021–22 season, on 21 March 2022, Kähkönen was dealt at the NHL trade deadline to the

, in exchange for defenceman Jacob Middleton and a fifth-round draft selection. 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.

International play

Kähkönen represented

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

at the

2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 40th Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It was hosted in Helsinki, Finland. It began on December 26, 2015, and ended with the gold medal game on January 5, 2016. This marked the sixth time ...

, where the team won gold.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kahkonen, Kaapo 1996 births Living people Espoo Blues players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey people from Helsinki Ice hockey players at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics Iowa Wild players Lukko players Minnesota Wild draft picks Minnesota Wild players San Jose Sharks players TuTo players Youth Olympic gold medalists for Finland