Carolina Hurricanes Offseason Grades: Antti Raanta

While the Carolina Hurricanes season ended in disappointment, the team had a lot to be proud of. Now in the offseason, tough decisions will be made, and management will work to put the team in a place to succeed next season. In the meantime, we will take a look back at individual players’ seasons and see how they did. For the Carolina Hurricanes offseason grades, today we look at Antti Raanta.

Carolina Hurricanes Offseason Grades: Antti Raanta

“Father Finn” as many have come to know him, Antti Raanta is a veteran goalie who has played a decade in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Arizona Coyotes and the Hurricanes. He went undrafted and signed as a free agent with the Blackhawks in 2013. Carolina signed him as a free agent in 2021 and he has been a very reliable backup goalie, more in a 1B role than a true number two spot. With so many young players and specifically younger Finnish players on the team, Raanta has served as almost a father figure to them.

As a goalie, Raanta is an extremely hard worker with a strong focus. He’s one of these goalies that can make saves look easy due to doing the little things right. As far as Hurricanes netminders, his style sits more in between Pyotr Kochetkov‘s high-flying, athletic-based style and Frederik Andersen‘s cool, calm and collected demeanour with more of a reliance on his positioning. He put up some very solid numbers over his career and Carolina’s decision to sign him has proven overall to be fairly smart.

Antti Raanta’s Regular Season

Antti Raanta split time in between the pipes with Andersen and Kochetkov fairly evenly this season. All year, the question of who Carolina’s number one goalie was never stopped. At times each of them looked like the go-to guy. Ultimately, they operated more as a goalie by committee with each holding his own. When Andersen missed a chunk of the season, Raanta became more of the starter with some stretches of Kochetkov when he was hot. And Raanta largely held the position very well. Even at the end of the season, Raanta seemed to be playing best out of all of Carolina’s goalies.

This season, Raanta finished with a 2.23 GAA and .910 SV% in 27 games played. Both of these were best for the Hurricanes. For goalies that played ten games or more this season, Raanta finished fifth in the league in GAA. Additionally, he tied Kochetkov with four shutouts. This was good enough for a tie with various goalies for third in the league. Even though Carolina’s defence can make most goalies look great, he had a 1.3 goals saved above expected and was ready to make the saves when needed. While this was not necessarily Raanta’s best year stats-wise, he was a steady goalie for the Hurricanes that provided them with a more than reliable backup. Or in many cases… a starter.

Antti Raanta’s Playoffs

With Raanta’s end-of-season play, consistency all year, and an illness to Andersen, Carolina had no problem starting him against the New York Islanders in the First Round of the playoffs. And he played very well in that series. Overall, in the playoffs, Raanta went three and three with a .909 SV% and 2.48 GAA. His goals saved above expected was again 1.3. So, Raanta’s playoff stats were very close to his regular season stats.

After starting the first five games against the Islanders, Raanta wouldn’t see the net again until Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. After Carolina and the Florida Panthers went to four overtimes in Game 1, Rod Brind’Amour decided to give Andersen a rest in Game 2. Even though they ended up losing, Raanta had a very good game, giving up only two goals with a .923 SV%.

The Verdict

Much like Andersen and Kochetkov, Raanta had a good regular season and a solid playoff performance. When he was needed, he answered the call. Whether it was being a reliable backup, a starter, or a mentor to other players, Raanta always took on his role with pride. While Carolina’s heavy shot-suppressing style on the defensive side may provide goalies with a lot of support, it also makes it tough at times when the goalie is not feeling a lot of shots. However, Raanta was again ready to make the stops whenever the opposition broke through.

Raanta will join Andersen as a free agent this summer. With only Kochetkov under contract, Carolina has some big decisions to make. Do they see Kochetkov as ready to step in as the starter? That is tough considering they are in a win-now mode, but management may see something there. If that’s the case would Raanta be another great 1B goalie? Ideally, Carolina would love to have him back but due to a weak free agency, big contract decisions coming up and the pressure to win, it may not be that simple. But once again, Raanta stepped right in and stepped up as a reliable goalie for Carolina in the regular season and playoffs.

Grade: B