Carolina Hurricanes activate goaltender Antti Raanta off injured reserve

The Carolina Hurricanes have activated goaltender Antti Raanta off injured reserve on Wednesday.

Raanta skated before the Hurricanes’ practice earlier this morning after being out since Feb. 8 with a lower-body injury.

It’s been a strange season for the Finnish keeper, who was placed on waivers back on Dec. 16 before spending a week with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. The 34-year-old signed a $1.5 million extension to remain in Raleigh heading into the season, and he has a 12-7-2 record with a shutout and a .872 save percentage in 24 games.

Raanta had one of the best seasons of his career last year, going 19-3-3 with four shutouts in 27 games. Raanta has an all-time record of 139-80-29 with 20 shutouts and a .915 save percentage in 277 games over 11 seasons with Carolina, Arizona, Chicago and the New York Rangers.

With goaltender Frederik Andersen still on IR, Raanta’s return will give the Hurricanes three goaltenders on the active roster. Pyotr Kochetkov and Spener Martin are the two other goaltenders on the roster, with the Hurricanes recently acquiring Martin on waivers.

According to Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff, Frederik Andersen hasn’t been cleared to return to game action yet, but coach Rod Brind’Amour said the Danish goalkeeper’s return is “just around the corner.”

The Hurricanes will need to make some moves sooner rather than later once their crease situation fills up. None of their four goaltenders are waiver eligible, but Martin—a 28-year-old journeyman—seems most likely to be on the move. According to CapFriendly, the Hurricanes have $5.61 million in current cap space with 10 pending UFAs and Martin Necas, Jack Drury, and Seth Jarvis set to become RFAs.

The Hurricanes are second in the Metropolitan Division with 71 points and are 8-1-1 over the past 10 games. The Hurricanes will host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday evening before facing off against the New Jersey Devils on the road on Saturday evening.