If you have asked yourself “Hasn’t he been overly critical of Frederik Andersen lately”, you would be correct in your observations. From my articles (that no one reads) and Twitter (where no one follows me) , you would see that there is little to no love lost for “The Great Dane,” especially here at the end of the regular season. And while Andersen has plenty of supporters, bordering on apologist, I would not count myself in that group. In fact I argue Frederik Andersen has not shown he has the ability to keep up with Carolina Hurricanes, and is thus holding up his back-ups. And while I enjoy making bad memes, my detracting opinions toward Andersen are not so much against him as they are in favor of Pyotr Kochetkov, and Antti Raanta who are being held back by the insistent reliance on Andersen.
Breakdown
Andersen
25 Different Teams
15 Different Wins
4 Wins Over Playoff Teams (Bruins, Kings, Lighting, Rangers)
Raanta
18 Different Teams
14 Different Wins
4 Wins Over Playoff Teams (Devils, Kraken, Stars x2)
Kochetkov
20 Different Teams
10 Different Wins
5 Wins Over Playoff Teams (Devils, Maple Leafs, Oilers, Kraken, Kings)
Should that not be sufficient evidence to the point that Andersen does not in fact play tougher teams, or not enough to support my claim that Andersen is not capable of big moments look no further than the other side of the statistics above.
Andersen has lost to 13 different teams this regular season. He also has 9 losses to playoff bound teams. Raanta on the other hand has losses to 6 different teams. Of those only three are going to the playoffs, though he was swept by the Avalanche in the two game series. Between Raanta and Andersen is Pyotr Kochetkov who has lost to 11 different teams. In total he has lost 7 games to playoff teams
Losses Break Down
Andersen
18 Different Teams
13 Different Losses
9 Losses To Playoff Teams (Knights x2, Lighting, Leafs, Oilers, Rangers x2, Stars, Wild)
Raanta
18 Different Teams
6 Different Losses
3 Losses To Playoff Teams (Avalanche x2, Bruins, Panthers)
Kochetkov
20 Different Teams
11 Different Losses
7 Losses To Playoff Teams (Bruins, Devils x2, Lighting, Leafs, Rangers, Wild)
If those numbers do not convince you that Annti Raanta and Poytr Kochetkov are in fact better in big games, I am not sure what will. Raanta and Kochetkov have lost fewer big games, and won as many (Raanta) or more (Kochetkov) than Frederik Andersen in the regular season.
Still, because apparently my writing for Cardiac Canes does not qualify me to discuss hockey with any intelligence, I am not completely done proving my points about Frederik Andersen. Since stats seem to be something used to measure Andersen’s worth for the team, let’s delve into those and measure out just where he stacks up against Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov. Below, I listed the rankings of Hurricanes goalies on their stats for the regular season thus far.
Wins
Andersen- 20
Raanta-19
Kochetkov- 12
Losses
Raanta- 3
Kochetkov- 7
Andersen- 11
OTL
Andersen- 1
Raanta- 3
Kochetkov- 5
GA
Kochetkov- 57
Raanta- 58
Andersen- 78
GAA
Raanta- 2.23
Andersen- 2.43
Kochetkov- 2.44
SV%
Raanta- .910
Kochetkov- .909
Andersen- .904
SO
Raanta, Kochetkov- 4
Andersen- 1
As you can see, and probably didn’t need to tell you, Andersen leads the Hurricanes in wins only. So it begs the question, just how much that one extra win is worth to the Carolina Hurricanes when statistically speaking Raanta and Kochetkov are as good or better.
For the last time, I have said Frederik Andersen is holding up the Carolina Hurricanes, specifically Antti Raanta and Poytr Kochetkov. His giving up more goals earlier, and his mediocre play to flat out losing in big games are not worth the slightest advantage in one statistical category. If you would like, you are welcomed to continue this argument but I cannot splice this any other way to help your case.
Let me close by restating that it is not my particular point to run down Andersen as some might think, but merely to point out the Hurricanes have two tremendous goaltenders being overshadowed by a mediocre to good goalie. My bias towards Kochetkov and Raanta is clear, and I simply see Andersen as a great back-up.
With the signing of Yaniv Perets to a two-year deal, I cannot help but hope that Andersen is moved elsewhere at the for draft picks or cash to put toward offensive firepower. As this late in the regular season scoring drought has shown, the Hurricanes could use some goal to help keep other teams on their heels.