Kaapo Kahkonen, Raphaël Lavoie and Spencer Smallman placed on NHL waivers for Oct. 10

Credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images

Three NHLers have been placed on waivers on Oct. 10 – including someone who has become quite a familiar face.

Goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (Winnipeg Jets), Raphaël Lavoie (Edmonton Oilers) and Spencer Smallman (Washington Capitals) are up for grabs after getting put on waivers by their respective teams on Thursday afternoon.

Kahkonen signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Jets this past summer after splitting last year between San Jose and New Jersey. He struggled throughout most of the season after previously emerging as one of the better young goalies early on during his tenure with the Minnesota Wild.

Kahkonen was brought in to give the Jets some extra goaltending depth behind Connor Hellebuyck, with Eric Comrie also returning to the fold. Comrie makes $825,000 on his deal, so sending Kahkonen down and keeping up Comrie allows the team to save a bit of money. If sent down, Kahkonen could return to the AHL for the first time since posting a 25-6-5 record with seven shutouts and a .927 save percentage with Iowa back in 2019-20. He took home the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s top goaltender that year before becoming a full-time NHLer in 2020-21.

Lavoie, meanwhile, is on waivers for the third time this month. He was originally set to start the year with the Oilers but was claimed by Vegas off waivers. The Oilers reclaimed him on Wednesday afternoon. Lavoie notched a career-high 28 goals and 22 assists for 50 points in 66 games with the Condors, finishing third in team points. Lavoie appeared in seven NHL games with Edmonton throughout the regular season but was held pointless.

If the Golden Knights claimed him and were the only team to put in a claim, he would be eligible to go straight down to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.

Smallman, meanwhile, has yet to play an NHL game at the age of 28. He signed with the Caps over the summer to give the Hershey Bears some extra depth. The winger had 12 goals and 21 while providing a bit of physicality with the Colorado Eagles.