Deen’s Daily: Toews’ Nagging Injury; Avalanche Lose a Goalie; Former Avs Forward Traded

Kaapo Kahkonen, we hardly knew ye.

The Avalanche’s third goalie was placed on waivers Monday and reclaimed the following day by the Winnipeg Jets. Colorado initially claimed Kahkonen from Winnipeg on Oct. 11 following a terrible performance from both Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen 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 issues for eight days following the waiver claim, which likely lost him an extra start or two.

In his one game, Kahkonen let in four goals in a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It wasn’t great. But if you could find any positives to take away from his one-month tenure with the Avs, it’s that his addition likely put both Georgiev and Annunen on notice. And they responded well.

Colorado’s goaltending isn’t figured out entirely, but both of their netminders have played better lately. At least for now, it’s clear that the team is comfortable with the tandem they started with. Whether that changes between Game No. 17 and the trade deadline is anybody’s guess.

But if it does, they’ll have to search elsewhere.

Devon Toews: Head coach Jared Bednar revealed following Monday’s victory over Nashville that Toews has been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury since training camp. Toews scored on Monday — his first of the season — to help Colorado to a 3-2 OT victory.

Colleen Flynn caught up with Toews 1-on-1 at Family Sports to discuss the injury. You can read all about it here.

Around The NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: On his daily appearance on Sportsnet’s The Fan Hockey Show, Insider Elliotte Friedman said the Penguins aren’t having an all-out firesale but are open to trading away some pieces if other teams have interest. Pittsburgh was blown out 7-1 by the Dallas Stars on Monday and are slowly watching their season begin to unravel.

Their division rivals, 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 dealt to the Avalanche ahead of the 2023 trade deadline. Colorado gave up a 2025 second-round draft pick to acquire him. After the Avs lost in the first round against the Seattle Kraken that year, Eller walked 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 dip back into the trade market for another young defenseman. Last season Philly was ultimately forced to trade Cutter Gauthier and settled on a deal that landed them Jamie Drysdale. It was reported at the time that the Flyers had also asked the Avs about Bowen Byram but Colorado later traded him for Casey Mittelstadt.

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