The Carolina Hurricanes are reportedly interested in Toronto Maple Leafs starting goaltender Frederik Andersen, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. It’s also been reported that the Leafs are testing Andersen’s trade value, so there could be something behind this.
Since hearing this, I’ve gone back and forth a bit about how I’d feel about the Hurricanes going after Andersen. On one hand, it means Carolina is actively looking for an upgrade in net, which will be key for them if they want to get to the next level. On top of that, Andersen is a very solid starter and aside from down year this season, he’s reached a .917 save percentage in four of the last five seasons. There’s no doubt he’d be an upgrade in net for the Hurricanes.
At the same time, however, I question whether Andersen would be the right fit. He can be inconsistent and has a tendency to let in bad goals at key times and it seems to happen frequently in the playoffs. The whole point of going after a starter would be to make sure Carolina has someone who can keep the game competitive when they’re facing tough competition and not someone who’s going to let in a goal like the one Petr Mrazek gave up from behind the net in Game 5 against Boston. Andersen may be a better goalie overall but he’s still prone to those lapses.
He’ll also be 31 years old in October and has just a single year remaining on his contract. The Hurricanes don’t need a rental, so if they’re making this move, they have to make sure they’d be able to re-sign him.
This also means they’d be giving up assets for Andersen in what will be a pretty decent free agent market for goalies and given the price of acquiring a starter, he’s not likely to come cheap. On top of that, trading has generally been an area of strength for Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas and seeing what he was able to get for Kasperi Kapanen, I’m a bit worried the Hurricanes would be set up to overpay for Andersen.
Don’t get me wrong though, if the Hurricanes actually managed to acquire Andersen, it would certainly be an upgrade. Considering how well he’s done behind Toronto’s defense corps, he’d probably find quite a bit of success in Carolina, if a deal was to actually materialize. That said, if the price is too high, there could certainly be other targets instead of Andersen.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Do you want the Hurricanes to make an attempt to trade for Frederik Andersen?
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