After signing new deal, SJ Sharks’ Kahkonen leaves no doubt about his mindset
Kaapo Kahkonen on San Jose Sharks' crowded crease: “It's not really my decision or my job to decide if there's going to be two or five goalies on the team."
With a new contract in hand, Kaapo Kahkonen will enter training camp this fall with the mindset of becoming the San Jose Sharks’ number one goalie.
How many other netminders the Sharks will have competing for that same job is not known right now, nor is it of much concern to Kahkonen.
“It’s not really my decision or my job to decide if there’s going to be two or five goalies on the team,” Kahkonen said Tuesday. “It doesn’t really affect my thinking. You always want to be the guy that plays.”
After locking up Kahkonen to a two-year, $5.5 million deal, the Sharks’ roster has three goalies on one-way contracts, with James Reimer and Adin Hill on deals that expire after next season.
Sharks general manager Mike Grier has been coy about his plans but has said he’s in no hurry to trade one of the goalies right away.
Kahkonen, who turns 26 next month, said he couldn’t remember if he’s been on a team with three goalies. But even if he, Hill, and Reimer are all at Sharks camp, that won’t change his approach this fall as he looks to establish himself as a No. 1 in the NHL.
“I want to be the guy that’s starting most nights, and that’s something that everybody probably wants to be,” Kahkonen said. “I don’t think anything really changes. That’s always been my mindset but at the same time, you have to earn that. It’s not just showing up to camp and hoping you have a good camp.
“It’s preparing, doing all the right things during the offseason and then once you get to camp you keep going. You practice well every time you do and then usually the game kind of takes care of itself.”
Kahkonen hasn’t played more than 39 games in any one pro season since 2018, but him taking the reins and being a true No. 1 would certainly answer one of the Sharks’ bigger questions.
Reimer mostly played well when he was healthy last season, finishing with a .911 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average. Hill also came up big at times, but only played 25 games as he missed most of the second half of the season with a nagging lower-body injury.
Through it all, the Sharks finished with a pedestrian team save percentage of .900, an improvement over recent prior seasons but still tied for 11th-worst in the NHL.
In 36 games last season with the Sharks and Minnesota Wild, Kahkonen had a .912 save percentage but his goals saved above expected, per moneypuck.com, was 5.2, which was tied for 17th in the NHL among all goalies who had played at least 20 games. Reimer’s mark was 0.1 and Hill’s was -4.1.
Based on the conversations Kahkonen had with Sharks assistant general manager Joe Will and goalie coach Evgeni Nabokov in exit interviews at the end of last season, there appears to be an organizational belief that the 6-foot-2, Finnish-born goalie is ready for a bigger role.
“I think everyone was pretty confident about me and I’m confident about myself that I can be a number one goalie,” Kahkonen said, “and that’s certainly my goal next year and moving forward.”
RETURN TO FORM?: The signing of Markus Nutivarra to a one-year, $1.5 million contract could be the type of low-risk deal that pays dividends for the Sharks — if the Finnish-born defenseman can stay healthy.
Nutivarra, 28, played just one game for the Florida Panthers last season in October before having hip surgery prior to Christmas. Nutivarra said he was close to returning in May before the Panthers’ playoff run ended in the second round.
Nutivarra played just 68 games over three seasons with the Panthers but feels he should be ready to go for the start of training camp. He’s hoping he can get back to where he was in 2018-19 when he averaged 17:41 of ice time per game as a third-pair defenseman for Columbus.
“That’s actually what I’m most excited about, just to get going and not play hurt,” Nutivaara said. “I just feel really excited to get healthy again and get it going right away. So yeah, I’m expecting at least that.”
STABLE INFLUENCE: There’s no replacing Brent Burns and Matt Benning’s not going to try, having scored just 76 points in 366 career NHL games. But what Benning can do is eat up some of the minutes on the right side of the defense that Burns left behind, particularly on the penalty kill.
Burns led the Sharks in shorthanded time on ice last season with an average of 2:43 per game. Benning was third in penalty kill time with the Nashville Predators last season at 2:11 per game, and overall, averaged 16:20.
“Guys will pick up, guys will get opportunities and do well with it,” said Benning, who signed a four-year, $5 million deal with the Sharks last week. “We’ve got some offensive guys on the back end that will help pick up that slack.”