Islanders goalie prospect moving to Swedish side MoDo

New York Islanders seventh-rounder Henrik Tikkanen is hard to miss. The 6’8″ 200+lbs goalie is a large figure in the hockey world. But he’s gone under the radar for a while now.

For about a week the Finnish goalie hasn’t been listed on his team’s game-day roster. Not even as the backup he’s supposed to be. His side (KalPa) couldn’t be reached for comment while I tried to figure out what was going on.

And now I know why. The Finnish goalie is on the move.

New York Islanders prospect on the move

It was made official early this morning (in North America) that Henrik Tikkanen’s contract with KalPa was terminated (by mutual consent) in order to facilitate a move to MoDo in Sweden.

That’s why he wasn’t on the roster or why the team couldn’t be reached for comment. They were working on a move for the Isles prospect.

According to the team, they facilitated this move to give Tikkanen a chance to get more playing time. And MoDo is the perfect place. A team’s spokesman told me via email that Tikkanen will have the chance to be the team’s top goalie:

"We have a situation where one of our two goalies, Tex Williamsson, missed most of the preseason due to a covid-19 infection. He’s on his way back but needs some time, and to strengthen our goalie position we have gotten Henrik from KalPa. Our expectation is for Henrik to fight for the number one spot on the team, at first with Isak Wallin and then also with Tex when Tex is fit for fight again."

I’ve also been told that Tikkanen will be with the team on Tuesday and may get his first game in either Wednesday or Friday.

The Isles prospect hasn’t had a good run this season. In two games this year, the goalie has a 4.95GAA and a 0.765SV% with KalPa. But he’s also barely played since 2018-19. This year and last the seventh-rounder has played 21 games.

Going to MoDo will give him the chance to get way more playing time and give him the chance to actually develop into something. Whether that something is an NHL or AHL caliber goalie or an Allsvenskan caliber goalie is another question altogether. But with MoDo, he’ll, seemingly, get the chance to do so.