The Carolina Hurricanes will have a very different look in net next season, after moving on from Alex Nedeljkovic, Petr Mrazek and James Reimer, in favour of Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta.
Mrazek and Reimer both signed elsewhere in free agency, while the Hurricanes opted to deal Nedeljkovic for essentially just a third-round pick, rather than re-sign him. Both of the incoming netminders signed two-year contracts, with Andersen’s deal coming in at a $4.5 million cap hit and Raanta’s carrying a $2 million cap hit.
To start, I will say that I actually really like the Raanta signing, independent of the decision to move Nedeljkovic. While Raanta is 32 years old and has had injury trouble, he can verge on starting goalie material when healthy.
Over the last four seasons in which he’s played at least 20 games, Raanta has managed at least a .919 save percentage in each one. Other than his rookie season in 2013-14, the only two years he’s struggled statistically since then were this past year and the 2018-19 season – but he played just 12 games in each.
As recently as the 2019-20 season, Raanta posted a .921 save percentage in 33 games with the Arizona Coyotes. At just a $2 million cap hit, his deal has huge upside and given the low cost and minimal term, there isn’t a ton of risk attached.
Andersen’s deal doesn’t look quite as good, however. While it’s also just two years, even though the $4.5 million cap hit isn’t terrible, it does carry more of a risk than Raanta’s contract.
Andersen is turning 32 years old in October and is coming off two down seasons, posting just a .895 save percentage in 24 games this past year. While Andersen had consistently been posting around a .918 save percentage as an overworked starter for multiple years before this decline, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not he’ll actually bounce back.
Essentially, signing a goalie who comes with with both upside and uncertainty is much more of a worthwhile gamble at $2 million per year than it is at $4.5 million per year. At the end of the day though, spending $6.5 million total on an Andersen/Raanta tandem doesn’t look too bad overall.
There are some question marks surrounding both goaltenders heading into next season but using a tandem gives the team the chance to run with whichever goalie is playing well at the time. I’d imagine we see a fairly even split in terms of workload, unless there are injuries or there’s a major difference in performance.
That said, there’s going to be pressure on the duo, based on the Nedeljkovic trade. Both goalies will certainly be compared to how the Calder Trophy finalist performs with the Detroit Red Wings this year, as it was a bold move by general manager Don Waddell to get rid of a promising young netminder, in favour of older goaltenders who each come with some uncertainty.
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Do you feel confident in the Hurricanes' goaltending tandem, heading into next season?
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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