Canadiens make surprising goaltender move before St. Louis Blues game

In an unexpected announcement made just hours before Sunday nights game against the St. Louis Blues the Montreal Canadiens recalled Kaapo Kahkonen from the Laval Rocket. Many speculated that Samuel Montembeault would be in net for the game against St. Louis, but will instead be sidelined with an undisclosed illness.

As a result of this development, Jakub Dobes will start in consecutive nights for the first time in his NHL career. Dobes played the previous night in a 2-1 shootout victory in Toronto over the Maple Leafs. Dobes made 22 of 23 saves in both regulation and overtime combined, while stopping two of three shooters in the shootout.

Kahkonen was signed as a free agent during the offseason to a one-year contract worth $1.15 million. Kahkonen has played in nine AHL games with the Laval Rocket this season, with a 6-2-0-0 record, a 2.81 GAA and a .895 save percentage.

Kahkonen has a combined 118 games over his time in the AHL and a career 2.61 GAA and a .909 save percentage. The 29-year-old from Helsinki, Finland has also spent a fair amount of time in the NHL, playing 140 games between the Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, New Jersey Devils and most recently a 5-2 loss against Tampa Bay in the 2024-2025 seas with Colorado.

It is unknown how much time Kahkonen will spend with the team, but it is important to note that the Canadiens did not specify whether this was classified as an emergency recall, or the more standard variety of recall. The importance of this being Kahkonen is waiver eligible and would have to clear before being allowed to rejoin the AHL affiliate. Kahkonen did clear waivers the first time he was sent down at the end of training camp in October, but with the tumultuous state of goaltending in the NHL at the moment it is unknown whether the temperature may have changed on the 2014 fourth round draftee.