The New Jersey Devils are making some changes to their goaltending duo as after acquiring Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens, they have sent Vitek Vanecek and a seventh round pick in 2025 to the San Jose Sharks for Kaapo Kahkonen in a swap of goaltenders. For the Devils, they added yet another young goaltender to their team as they already have Akira Schmid, Nico Daws, and Isaac Poulter, all signed to NHL contracts. Kahkonen has had a rough year as he’s 6-20-3 this year with a 3.82 GAA and .895SV%. He is in his sixth year in the NHL as he has a record of 48-63-15 with a 3.36 GAA and .898 SV% as he’s spent time with the Minnesota Wild and the Sharks. It will be interesting to see what the Devils do here in net and how this affects Daws and Schmid.
San Jose now has a tandem of former Devil goaltender in MacKenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek. This is a surprising move for the Sharks, who people expected to get younger, but they do the opposite in this trade. Vanecek will now join his third team after spending time with the Washington Capitals and New Jersey prior to joining San Jose, putting up a record of 91-42-17 with a 2.70 GAA, .905SV%, and nine shutouts. The 28-year-old goaltender has been out with an injury since the beginning of February.
ITR 26: 2 Nations Fighting – Inside The Rink
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