The Carolina Hurricanes’ Upcoming Goalie Situation

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?

Potential Trade Targets

Seeing as how the Carolina Hurricanes have a plethora of talented goalie prospects, yet none are quite at the NHL level yet, the next obvious place too look for a solution would be via trade.

Now, I’m not saying any of these players are involved in any trade rumors, and I’m not saying I have insider info on any discussions, whether ongoing or in the future. This is just pure speculation, and is based on who I feel would mesh with the Canes’ culture and on-ice product going forward.

That being said there are three goalies in the league right now that I think would greatly benefit the Carolina Hurricanes: Antti Raanta, Joonas Korpisalo, and Marc-Andre Fleury.

Hear me out a bit. Antti Raanta, although making his way back from the IR list, is an incredible goaltender. In 2019-20, Raanta turned in a .921 save percentage, a 3.01 goals-against average, 2 shutouts, and a win/loss record of 15-14-3 in 32 games started.

These numbers might seem a bit off-putting, but when you consider he was on a largely flat Arizona Coyotes team (22nd in the league that year), playing behind a woeful defense, it’s not hard to see how his skills would translate playing behind the Canes’ superior defense.

Joonas Korpisalo should be another attractive option in net for the Canes; in 2019-20, Korpisalo turned in a .911 save percentage, 2.60 goals-against average, 2 shutouts, and a win/loss record of 19-12-5 in 35 games started. These numbers are very similar to Raanta’s, but Korpisalo also played on a team (Columbus) that was up and down the standings almost all year; Columbus, with help from both Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins, finished 14th that year.

Last, but not least, is Marc-Andre Fleury. I, personally, have been a huge Fleury fan for essentially his entire career. With Vegas signing Robin Lehner long-term, Fleury is either on the outs in Vegas, or is likely considered “1B” in a 1A/1B-type situation. In Carolina, though, Fleury would be a standout starter; in 2019-20 Fleury posted a .905 save percentage, 2.77 goals-against average, 5 shutouts, and a win/loss record of 27-16-5 in 48 games started.

Any one of these three guys would be a great fit, and one of them might even be a solid free agency pickup option.

Free Agency

The last place the Carolina Hurricanes could look for an answer in goal is the upcoming free agency period.

This past free agency period saw players like Braden Holtby, Jacob Markstrom, Jake Allen, and Thomas Greiss sign with new teams. This coming free agency period is sure to bring us about the same level of chaos when it comes to goaltenders.

Now, I know that there are some seriously elite goalies about to hit free agency this year. Tuukka Rask and Freddie Andersen jump to mind, but I don’t think the Canes would be willing to cough up the kind of cash it’d take to sign either; not to mention the fact that Rask has stated that he wants to finish his career in Boston.

There are also a ton of very solid goalies whose contracts expire into RFA status: Thatcher Demko, Veini Vehvilainen, Ilya Sorokin, Ilya Samsonov, and Igor Shesterkin to name a few. These guys, however, will likely be very expensive to lure away from their current teams, if they aren’t extended before the free agency period in the first place.

No, I think the Carolina Hurricanes will end up pursuing far more economical options if they do, indeed, decide to pursue a replacement in goal this offseason. For this reason, I only have one pick for this category: David “Big Save Dave” Rittich.

With Calgary securing Jacob Markstrom to a very lucrative 6 year, $36M deal, Rittich is almost certain to test the free agency waters in a few months. What better place for him than Carolina?

Rittich, in 2019-20, posted a .907 save percentage, 2.97 goals-against average, 2 shutouts, and a 24-17-16 win/loss record. Not terrible by any stretch of the word, if you ask me. Rittich does have the slight misfortune of being the first NHL goaltender to ever have ‘the Michigan’ goal scored on them courtesy of Andrei Svechnikov, but what’s a few legendary goals between friends?

In any case, the Carolina Hurricanes have quite the job ahead in figuring out who carries the proverbial goaltending torch going forward. Who knows, they could just end up re-signing both Mrazek and Reimer to keep trying out the 1A/1B system. I personally don’t think that’s a cup-winning recipe, but that’s another story for another day.