Gone Puck Wild
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The Minnesota Wild’s Goalie Conundrum and How to Fix it

By Lake Martin

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - APRIL 20: Alex Stalock #32 of the Minnesota Wild replaces teammate Devan Dubnyk #40 in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets on April 20, 2018 at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jason Halstead /Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - APRIL 20: Alex Stalock #32 of the Minnesota Wild replaces teammate Devan Dubnyk #40 in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets on April 20, 2018 at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jason Halstead /Getty Images) /
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Kaapo Kahkonen looked solid in his brief stint with the Pro Squad. After a very good year on the Farm, is it time to bring him in for the long haul?

Minnesota Wild, Kaapo Kahkonen #31 (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Minnesota Wild, Kaapo Kahkonen #31 (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Listed at 6’2″, Minnesota’s fourth-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft is looking like he could be the real deal. Kaapo Kahkonen was called up this season while Dubnyk was attending to family matters and got in net for five games. The Finnish Goaltender would go 3-1-1 with a .913 save percentage and a 2.96 Goals Against Average.

It was fairly clear that the Wild tried to shelter him, giving him starts against weaker teams like New Jersey, Florida, Anaheim, and Chicago, but did get to see him perform against a high octane offense in the Edmonton Oilers. In each of his first three starts (NJD, FLA, and ANA) he only allowed two goals a game, getting two wins and a shootout loss. In his last two games, he allowed five goals against Edmonton and four against Chicago, a win and a loss for the young tender.

What’s more significant is how he’s performed in Iowa and how it’s grabbed the attention of evaluators around the league. In 34 games played for the Iowa Wild this year, he averaged only 2.07 GAA and had a save percentage of .927. The season prior in Iowa, his first year playing on North American ice, he averaged 2.78 GAA and a .908 save percentage in 39 games played. Those are pretty good numbers for someone who’s only spent two years in the second-best hockey league in the world.

The Hockey Writers recently put out an article listing the best NHL Goalie Prospects and Minnesota’s Kaapo Kahkonen ranked second only to Nashville’s Connor Ingram. Greg Boysen said this of Kahkonen:

"This season, he has gone from impressive rookie to one of the top AHL goaltenders. He is fourth in the league with a 2.08 GAA and .927 SV% and his 25 wins and seven shutouts are the most among all AHL netminders. His 13 career shutouts are the Iowa franchise record for the most by any goaltender. His calm and controlled demeanor, as well as great positioning, has made the transition to the North American game a smooth one for Kahkonen. He moves from post to post fluidly and has tremendous rebound control. He got his first taste of the NHL with five starts earlier this season and it sure won’t be the last we see of him at the game’s highest level."

Now I do not think it’s wise to just hand the keys to the car to Kahkonen. I believe the Wild should go 1A/1B with Stalock (or a different Goalie) and Kahkonen to get Kaapo comfortable in net and eventually hand him the reigns. This move makes more than a modicum of sense as the Wild have a suddenly deep goaltending pipeline: Iowa Wild’s Kaapo Kahkonen, former Golden Gopher/Current Iowa Wild Mat Robson, Petersborough Petes Hunter  Jones, UMass Amherst’s Filip Lindberg, and even 6’6″ Derek Baribeau on the ECHL’s Allen Americans. By promoting Kaapo Kahkonen to the NHL roster, you create an opportunity for another prospect to get more development and refinement.

What other options do the Wild have if they feel Kaapo isn’t enough?

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