SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks are trading another one of their pending unrestricted free agents, sending Kaapo Kahkonen to the New Jersey Devils for Vitek Vanecek in a swap of goalies.
The Sharks are also getting a 2025 seventh-round draft in the trade.
In another deal, the Sharks also acquired goalie Devin Cooley from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2025 seventh-round pick originally owned by the Washington Capitals. Cooley, 26, is a Los Gatos native and a former Jr. Shark who has spent all of his pro career in the minor leagues.
Vanecek, 28, is signed for one more season with a cap hit of $3.4 million and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2025. He is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. He is 17-9-3 this season with a .890 save percentage in 32 games.
Kahkonen sat on the Sharks’ bench Thursday night as Magnus Chrona got the start in net and made 26 saves in a 7-2 loss to the New York Islanders. Quinn said he wanted to reward Chrona after he made 36 saves in the Sharks’ 3-2 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars on March 2.
The 27-year-old Kahkonen, now in his fourth full NHL season, is 6-20-3 in 31 games this year with a .895 save percentage. He’s in the second and final season of a two-year, $5.5 million contract he signed with the Sharks in July 2022.
Kahkonen came to San Jose in March 2022, as the Sharks acquired him and a 2022 fifth-round pick, which was used on defenseman Jake Furlong, for defenseman Jacob Middleton.
Kahkonen was thought to be one of a handful of Sharks pending UFAs on the move before the NHL’s trade deadline today at noon (PST).
On Thursday night, in their first significant move before the deadline, the Sharks sent forward Anthony Duclair and a 2025 seventh-round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2024 third-round selection and minor league defenseman Jack Thompson.
Please check back for updates to this story.
