Deen’s Daily: Toews’ nagging injury; Avalanche loses a goalie; Former Avs Forward Traded

Kaapo Kahkonen, we hardly knew you.

The Avalanche’s third goalie was placed on waivers on Monday and reacquired by the Winnipeg Jets the following day. Colorado initially acquired Kahkonen from Winnipeg on October 11th after Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen had terrible performances on opening night.

Kahkonen only played once for the Avs and didn’t quite get the opportunity he probably wanted. It also didn’t help that he had to deal with immigration and visa matters for eight days after applying for the exemption, which probably earned him an extra starting spot or two.

In his only game, Kahkonen conceded four goals in a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It wasn’t great. But if you can take anything positive away from his month-long tenure with the Avs, it’s that his signing likely caught the attention of both Georgiev and Annunen. And they responded well.

Colorado’s goaltenders aren’t fully figured out yet, but both goaltenders have been playing better lately. At least for now it is clear that the team is happy with the tandem they started with. Whether that changes between Game No. 17 and the trade deadline remains unclear.

But if so, they’ll have to look elsewhere.

Devon Toews: Head coach Jared Bednar announced after Monday’s win over Nashville that Toews has been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury since training camp. Toews scored his first goal of the season on Monday, helping Colorado to a 3-2 OT win.

Colleen Flynn met Toews one-on-one at Family Sports to discuss the injury. You can read all about it here.

Around the NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey now: During his daily appearance on Sportsnet’s “The Fan Hockey Show,” insider Elliotte Friedman said the Penguins aren’t going on a complete selloff, but are willing to trade away some pieces if other teams are interested. Pittsburgh was beaten 7-1 by the Dallas Stars on Monday and is slowly watching its season come to an end.

Their division rival, the Washington Capitals, stepped up and made a deal for former Capitals Stanley Cup champion Lars Eller.

The Caps initially lost Eller almost two years ago when he was traded to the Avalanche before the 2023 trade deadline. Colorado gave up a 2025 second-round draft pick to acquire him. After the Avs lost to the Seattle Kraken in the first round that year, Eller moved on as a UFA and signed a multi-year deal with the Pens.

Evgeni Malkin had this to say about Pittsburgh’s embarrassing performance against the Stars.

Philly Hockey now: Jonathan Bailey wonders if the Flyers could get back into the trade market for another young defenseman. Last season, Philly was finally forced to trade cutter Gauthier and agreed to a deal that got them Jamie Drysdale. It was reported at the time that the Flyers had also asked the Avs for Bowen Byram, but Colorado later traded him for Casey Mittelstadt.

Winnipeg Jets: The historic run for Winnipeg continues. After defeating the New York Rangers 6-3 on Tuesday, the Jets improved to 15-1-0 on the season. The only loss was against the Toronto Maple Leafs.