Cardiac Cane
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The Carolina Hurricanes’ Upcoming Goalie Situation

By Matthew Nidiffer

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 19: Petr Mrazek #34 of the Carolina Hurricanes speaks with James Reimer #47 during a timeout against the Boston Bruins during the third period in Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 19, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 19: Petr Mrazek #34 of the Carolina Hurricanes speaks with James Reimer #47 during a timeout against the Boston Bruins during the third period in Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 19, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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BUFFALO, NY – JUNE 25: Jack Lafontaine reacts after being selected 75th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2016 NHL Draft on June 25, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY – JUNE 25: Jack Lafontaine reacts after being selected 75th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2016 NHL Draft on June 25, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Prospects

The Carolina Hurricanes have several goalie prospects waiting in the wings for their shot at the next level, but I’ll go ahead and say that none of them are NHL-ready at this point in time.

Aside from Mrazek, Reimer, and Nedeljkovic, the Canes’ prospect pool runs fairly deep when it comes to goaltenders.

Jack LaFontaine, selected 75th overall in 2016, and Eetu Makiniemi, selected 104th overall in 2017, head up the list of prospective NHL-level goaltending talent in the Canes’ organization. Pyotr Kochetkov, selected 36th overall in 2019, isn’t too far behind, but remains mostly a question mark at this point; Kochetkov has done well when played, but hasn’t been given a ton of starts in the VHL yet.

LaFontaine currently plays for the University of Minnesota and, in 14 games played, has put up an impressive .949 save percentage, a 1.37 goals-against average, an astounding 3 shutouts, and a W/L record of 11-3-0. This puts him squarely atop the Canes’ goalie prospect list for me.

Makiniemi is currently playing for Ilves in the Finnish Liiga, and sports a .900 save percentage, a 2.87 goals-against average, 1 shutout, and a 5-5-3 record in 13 games played. Kochetkov, currently playing for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the KHL, has played in 3 games, and sports a .947 save percentage, a goals-against average of 2.27, and a W/L record of 1-0-1, with 1 shutout.

The Canes have other goalies in lower levels (Jeremy Helvig, Antoine Bibeau) as well, but I’m not entirely certain they’re destined for the NHL given their current respective trajectories.

As far as I’m concerned, with Lafontaine, Makiniemi, and Kochetkov making up the top half of the Canes’ goalie prospect list, the future is bright for netminders in Raleigh-Durham, but they aren’t quite going to be the answer just yet. This leads the Canes to eventually having to find the answer via a trade or free agency, at least until one of these three is ready to take over in the NHL.

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