Hurricanes Make Decision On Goalie Tandem For Now

The Carolina Hurricanes activated Frederik Andersen off of the injured reserve last week and hasn't made a decision on who they would be sending to the AHL or trading just yet. Andersen and Antti Raanta are both UFAs at the end of the season while Pyotr Kochetkov was re-signed to a four-year, $2 million AAV extension a while back. They know who their future is, but he also happens to still be waiver exempt.

This caused the Hurricanes to make a decision to send Kochetkov down to the AHL for the time being. At this point, he has started more games than Raanta and Andersen this season and has much better stats. Kochetkov helped the team go on a big win streak and glide into first place in the division where they've held for a while.

Kochetkov is 10-4-5 this season with a .913 SV%, 2.33 GAA, and three shutouts. He has 11 quality starts (.611%) and has a goals saved above average (GSAA) of 4.2. The other two goaltenders' GSAA are a combined -4.9.

The Hurricanes will be looking to trade Raanta before the trade deadline so that Kochetkov can finish the season in the NHL with the Hurricanes. Right now it doesn't make sense for them to run with three goalies. Andersen has played better since his return and Raanta sports a sub-.900 SV%. The thought is that the Hurricanes are also leaning towards re-signing Andersen over Raanta.