Carolina Hurricanes: Mrazek’s 2019-20 Season Outlook

Entering his second season as the Carolina Hurricanes starting goaltender, what can we expect to see from Petr Mrazek in 2019-20?

Originally drafted in the fifth round by the Detroit Red Wings in 2010, Petr Mrazek signed a one year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes last offseason. Coming off a year where he split time with both the Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers, Petr was looking to re-establish himself as a legit NHL starting goaltender.

Splitting time in net with waiver claim Curtis McElhinney, Mrazek proved that he was more than capable of being the go to guy when counted upon, earning a two year $6,250,000 contract extension. With McElhinney signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July first, the Hurricanes are going to rely on Mrazek even more next season.

Appearing in 40 regular season games in 2018-19, Petr posted a record of 23-14-3 with a goals against average of 2.39, a save percentage of .914 and four shutouts. In the playoffs, Petr’s numbers slightly dipped, although in a small sample size, to 2.73 GAA and .894 save percentage and two shutouts with a record of 5-5-0 in 11 games played.

Appearing in 223 NHL games over a seven year career, Mrazek has an all time regular season record of 101-78-26, with a GAA of 2.61, a .911 save percentage and 18 shutouts. With the new additions to the Hurricanes roster, and a full year under his belt, it shouldn’t be out of the question to see Petr challenge his career high 27 wins, back in 2015-16 with Detroit.

With the addition of James Reimer, it appears as if Alex Nedeljkovic and Anton Forsberg are both currently destined to start next season in Charlotte, barring a trade or training camp performances. With that in mind, it is likely that we see Reimer replace Curtis as Petr’s backup with Nedeljkovic seeing a handful of games here and there.

Although Reimer’s numbers with the Florida Panthers last season are a bit underwhelming, going 13-12-5 with a 3.09 GAA and a .900 save percentage in 36 games, his career .914 save percentage and 2.81 GAA is rather similar to McElhinney’s career numbers, making him a solid backup up to Petr. No matter who the backup is, Petr will likely see a slight increase in games played.

Looking ahead, barring injuries, it is very likely that Petr will start anywhere from 42-47 games next season. It is also likely that we should see about 25-29 wins, 12-14 losses, another 3-5 overtime losses with around 5 shutouts. His GAA should come in around 2.4 with a save percentage around .915, just based on his career averages and last season’s performance.

It should be comforting to fans to know that they are finally entering a season where goaltending isn’t a big concern. It appears as if the Hurricanes have finally found a capable starting goaltender for the now, and with prospects like Nedeljkovic, Callum Booth, Jeremy Helvig and 2019 second round selection Pyotr Kochetkov in the system, the future in net looks bright as well.

How will Petr Mrazek perform in his second year with the Hurricanes?