The Carolina Hurricanes placed goaltender Antti Raanta on waivers Saturday afternoon, Raanta has a 6-5-1 record this season with a 3.61 GAA, .854sv%, along with one shutout. Raanta signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Hurricanes on July 1st. This is an odd move by the Hurricanes, who are already without Frederik Andersen, who is out with no timetable for his return. The Canes only have two other goaltenders on their roster who are on NHL contracts, and that’s Pytor Kochetkov and Yaniv Perets. Kochetkov has gone 6-6-1 this year with a 2.78 GAA, .890sv%, and a shutout in 14 games with the Hurricanes. Perets, who has only seen ECHL action this season, is expected to be called up to the Hurricanes according to Kevin Weeks, he’s appeared in 11 games this year, with Norfolk putting up a 5-5-1 record with a 2.38 GAA, .916 SV%, and one shutout Raanta doesn’t have to be sent down if he clears waivers, as the Hurricanes are required to carry two goaltenders. The 23-year-old goalie went 34-4-3 with a 1.49 GAA, .931sv%, and ten shutouts. He led Quinnipiac to a National Championship.
This move shows that Carolina is interested in upgrading the goalie position with the uncertainty of Andersen moving forward. There are multiple teams in the goalie market right now, which include New Jersey, Carolina, Edmonton, and Montreal, just to name a few. I would expect the Canes to make a move for a goalie the question right now is when. The Hurricanes will face off against the Washington Capitals tomorrow evening with puck drop being at 6 pm.
