Hurricanes make a major change at goalie

The Hurricanes have had a tough time between the pipes lately and a shakeup could be on the way as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that goaltender Antti Raanta has been placed on waivers.

The 34-year-old inked a one-year, $1.5M contract on the opening day of free agency to stay with Carolina, taking a $500K pay cut in the process.  Raanta opted to do so despite coming off of a pretty strong showing, one that saw him post a 2.23 GAA and a .910 SV% in 27 games last season, numbers that were better than league average.  Clearly, he was comfortable with the Hurricanes and vice versa so him sticking around certainly made plenty of sense on the surface.

Unfortunately for both sides, things have not gone well at all.  Raanta has struggled mightily this season, putting up a 3.61 GAA along with a .854 SV% in 14 games.  Friday’s game against Nashville was one to forget as he allowed six goals on 30 shots in an overtime loss which appears to be the last straw.

That said, it’s not as if Carolina’s other two netminders have been demonstrably better either.  Prior to being sidelined with blood clots, Frederik Andersen had a career-low .894 SV% in his six appearances while Pyotr Kochetkov has been hit or miss in his 14 games, checking in with a .890 SV%.  Those numbers are below the NHL average this season as well.

With Andersen still out indefinitely, the timing of this move is particularly noteworthy.  The only other goalie that Carolina has on an NHL contract is prospect Yaniv Perets who is playing with ECHL Norfolk with the Hurricanes not having their own AHL affiliate this year.  Are they really comfortable running with him as the backup to Kochetkov?

Accordingly, it’s possible that Raanta’s waiving is the precursor to a trade.  Speculatively, the other team might not want to take Raanta’s contract on, or, conversely, want to make sure he’d be available to be recalled from the minors if they were to move a netminder.  Montreal, Columbus, Buffalo, and Detroit are currently carrying three goalies on their active roster at the moment with those teams having varying degrees of interest in dropping to two.  Meanwhile, there may be other teams that are willing to move one of their two current goaltenders as well.

Of course, it’s also worth noting that Raanta doesn’t have to be sent down if he clears waivers on Sunday at 1 PM CT.  This could just be a move to give them a bit of extra flexibility when it comes to day-to-day cap management or to try to send Raanta a message to help try to get him back on track.  With the roster freeze now just a week away, it shouldn’t be long before we find out what route Carolina intends to take with the veteran.  If he does clear and is sent down, Carolina will be able to clear a prorated $1.15M off their salary cap.