- The Islanders re-signed goalie Henrik Tikkanen to a one-year, two-way deal worth $850,000 at the NHL level
- At 6-foot-8, Tikkanen would pass Ben Bishop as the tallest goaltender in NHL history
- Read below for full details on the signing and where Tikkanen fits in New York’s crease
New York re-signed goaltender Henrik Tikkanen to a one-year, two-way contract this week, per PuckPedia. The deal pays him $850,000 at the NHL level and $130,000 in the minors.
What makes the 25-year-old worth a second look is his size. Tikkanen stands 6-foot-8. If he ever cracks the Islanders lineup, he’d pass 6-foot-7 Ben Bishop as the tallest goaltender in NHL history.
Take a look at how much of the net he swallows up in warmups:
The Lohja, Finland native went 214th overall in the 2020 draft, a seventh-round flier on a frame nobody else wanted to bet on. He has yet to appear in an NHL game.
Last season he split time between AHL Bridgeport and the ECHL’s Worcester Railers, posting a 2.65 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage across 29 AHL games.
Ilya Sorokin has the crease locked down on Long Island. Semyon Varlamov, now 38, is heading into the last year of his deal after knee surgery complications cost him a full season.
That left general manager Mathieu Darche thin on bodies once David Rittich signed with the Devils in free agency. Tikkanen is the organizational insurance behind two goalies with real question marks.
His minor league address changes this year, too. The Islanders pulled their AHL affiliate out of Bridgeport after 25 seasons and rebranded it the Hamilton Hammers, with the club moving into the renovated TD Coliseum in Ontario.
Bridgeport said goodbye to its fans back in April:
An $850,000 two-way deal is standard depth money for a goalie who has never dressed for an NHL game. The record sitting on the other end of it is not.
