Sharks' Kahkonen Linked To 2 Teams

The same few teams continue to come up in trade rumors when it comes to adding a goaltender this season. The San Jose Sharks just so happen to have two that should be available for the right price. While Mackenzie Blackwood was getting the attention earlier in the season, Kaapo Kahkonen has had a sneaky good season behind the Sharks who are not good at all.

This has made Kahkonen a target for teams in search of a rental goalie as a number of the other names cost more to acquire, have a larger cap hit, and are locked in past this season. For a short-term fix, the Sharks and Kahkonen seem like the go-to option.

That being said, the two teams that have been linked to Kahkonen by The Fourth Period are the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils. At this time, the Devils are still outside of the playoffs pushing to get in. They have a good shot at it if they get some goaltending. With Vitek Vanecek on the IR, it is up to Nico Daws and Akira Schmid. It could go wrong as both haven't been great this season. The Devils have cap space and would be able to get some solid goaltending from someone like Kahkonen who has faced many more shots per game than New Jersey allows.

The Hurricanes can run with Pyotr Kochetkov since he has been good, but adding someone to support him as a 1b goalie would be ideal. There is no certainty that Frederik Andersen will be back by the end of the season and Antti Raanta has been inconsistent. The Hurricanes could realistically move Raanta back to the Sharks and bring in Kahkonen while not giving up a ton.

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