Kasimir Kaskisuo has been everywhere, man.
Here, let me hit the highlights before the broadcast tells you all about it tonight.
He started out in the Jokerit system in Finland, which is a clue to the path his life took. Jokerit, then in the Liiga, was always rich in goalie prospects. As he was ageing out of junior, he was facing a loan to another team, likely a Mestis team (lower division), and the alternative of an NCAA career is what he chose.
He played two years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth after trying the USHL and getting cut the prior year. The Leafs signed him as an undrafted UFA in the spring of 2016, when he was not yet 23, but he never hit the T25U25.
He played on the Marlies, he played on the Solar Bears in Orlando, he was loaned to the Chicago Wolves for a year, when the Marlies crease was too deep, and he felt he had got all he could out of the ECHL. That was the cup year for the Marlies, so he wasn’t a winner. He came back last year and played through ups and downs and finished up until the team crashed out of the playoffs. And he’s about to play in his ninth game of the season and his first in the NHL tonight.
He’ll join former teammates Antoine Bibeau and Garret Sparks, who have each had one game each.
For the preview for tonight’s game:
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Preview: Kasimir Kaskisuo makes his NHL debut against Penguins
Go Leafs Go!
And let’s all hope we’re chanting Kaskisuo’s name by the end of the night.
