It appears there will be a new goaltending tandem in Carolina this season. Already linked to Frederik Andersen, the Hurricanes are also set to sign veteran Antti Raanta. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the two-year contract will be worth $2M per season.
Raanta has spent the past four seasons with Arizona in somewhat of a roller-coaster ride. At times, he has played well enough to be a legitimate starting goalie, while at others he has struggled considerably. In between, he has had frequent stints on injured reserve, including last season. He was only able to play in a dozen games, posting a 3.36 GAA with a .905 SV%, numbers that were much worse than his career averages.
Still, Raanta’s track record is strong enough to make him a viable buy-low candidate for Carolina. His career .919 SV% is well above-average, and if he can come somewhat close to that, he will provide solid value for the Hurricanes. However, with both Raanta and Andersen having some injury trouble last year, it’s also a risk for GM Don Waddell; accordingly, he would be wise to look for a veteran third-stringer with all of the AHL goaltenders 23 or younger with no NHL experience.
Meanwhile, Arizona may need to add a goalie of its own. Adin Hill was moved to San Jose to avoid losing him in expansion so there is no proven option behind starter Darcy Kuemper. Ivan Prosvetov and Josef Korenar are among the internal options they have, but a more proven backup would give the Coyotes some insurance, especially with Kuemper being limited to just 27 games last season and the fact he’s about to enter the final year of his contract.
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