The Carolina Hurricanes are no stranger to that seemingly endlessly turning revolving door that seems to have planted itself firmly next to the letter ‘G’ on the roster sheet.
For the first time in a very long time, the Carolina Hurricanes have one of the best defensive lineups in the league, backstopped by slightly-better-than-league-average goaltending with Petr Mrazek and James Reimer mostly splitting time in net since late 2019.
5 or so years ago though, during a period of time ever faithful Canes’ fans refer to as “the dark ages”, things were quite a bit different.
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The Carolina Hurricanes had a relatively lackluster defensive lineup, but they had longtime franchise goaltender Cam Ward backstopping them; despite several failed attempts at bringing in a goaltender to take Wardo’s starting spot (Anton Khudobin, Eddie Lack, Scott Darling), things just wouldn’t work out in Carolina for those guys for one reason or another.
This brings us to today, where Mrazek and Reimer deftly handle things in the crease for the Canes, with Alex Nedeljkovic waiting in the wings to provide 3rd string support whenever necessary. This system, however, is not built to last; it will likely look very different after this season, with all three of the Canes’ top goaltender’s contracts set to expire going into this offseason.
A part of me wonders why the Canes didn’t seriously pursue any of the litany of talented goalies available during this past free agency period. A player like Braden Holtby or Jacob Markstrom would fit right in with the Canes, but another (probably smarter) part of me understands the financial aspect of things, and Don Waddell’s desire to keep roughly the same core together going into a difficult and truncated season.
Nevertheless, the Carolina Hurricanes are due for an upgrade in net after this season, and it could likely come from outside today’s core team during the upcoming free agency period in several month’s time. Let’s see what the Canes’ options are, shall we?