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?

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.

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.