Canes’ decision to add goalies Andersen, Raanta over Mrazek, Nedeljkovic appears sound
.JPG "Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta (32) blocks the shot of Colorado Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog (92) with Hurricanes’ Brett Pesce (22) defending during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)")
It was a bad night for a pair of former Carolina Hurricanes netminders on Thursday — two goalies about which fans screamed when the team decided to either trade them or let them walk — while one current Canes goalie turned in his best performance of the season.
With an eye across the NHL, Thursday was a microcosm of what the season has been like for all parties involved, down to the tight-checking playoff atmosphere at PNC Arena.
Turns out, perhaps, the Canes made the right decision all those months ago.
Carolina battled the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday in a matchup of the NHL’s top two teams in the standings and the team’s so-called backup keeper, Antti Raanta, turned in an all-star performance, stopping 36 shots to earn a 2-0 shutout win over the Avs, the only team with more points in the NHL so far this season.
The game had a decided playoff feel — tight checking, low scoring and, yes, stellar goaltending all around, from Raanta and from Darcy Kuemper in the other cage. And in true playoff fashion, a fluky goal decided the outcome of a game. Ethan Bear’s wobbling floater from out near the blue line on a quick turnaround shot knuckled past Kuemper with 5:40 to play in the third period. Sebastian Aho added an empty-netter in the final minutes.
But what Canes fans saw Thursday — at least in the goaltending department — wasn’t abnormal. The team’s goalies have been among the league’s best this season. On Thursday, it was Raanta’s turn for a third straight start, though for most of the year, the crease has been Frederik Andersen’s.
Scratched from the past two games with an undisclosed injury, Andersen has been Carolina’s wall between the pipes this season. His 2.08 goals-against average and .928 save percentage are each third in the league.
Not that Raanta has been a slouch as the team’s primary backup. The well-traveled Finn has posted 2.47 and .911 numbers in racking up nine wins through Thursday.
Last summer, though, there was some overall consternation surrounding the Canes’ decision to roll with Andersen and Raanta. Folks in Raleigh had fallen in love with a rookie named Ned, and a reliable, if not flashy veteran in Petr Mrazek.
On Thursday night, a tumultuous season for both Alex Nedeljkovic and Mrazek provided direct contrast to what Canes fans saw at PNC, and it started just as Raanta took the ice for the Canes against Colorado.
In one clip, with the Red Wings holding a 2-0 lead, Nedeljkovic watched as a long flip into the zone bounced a few feet in front of his cage. He attempted to swat at it with the open paddle of his goalie stick, ticked the puck and redirected it into his own net.
Nearly simultaneously, Mrazek allowed three quick goals against as the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Arizona Coyotes, two of which could be considered weaker efforts.
To be fair, no goalie should be judged on a single miscue, nor one or even five games in an NHL season that stretches 82 regular-season contests, plus playoffs.
But neither Nedeljkovic nor Mrazek are doing much to contradict Thursday’s narrative, either.
Playing for an admittedly rebuilding Detroit team, Nedeljkovic has shouldered much of the load for the Red Wings this season, appearing in 40 games and starting 37. His nearest comparison, based on those numbers, would be Andersen, whose 39 games played leads the Canes. Nedeljkovic’s numbers, beyond games played, hardly compare. The second-year keeper, who earned some votes last season for NHL Rookie of the Year, has posted a 3.19 GAA and .901 save percentage this season.
In Toronto, Mrazek has again been injured, a condition that plagued him in his final season with the Canes. But in his 15 games prior to Thursday, he’s hardly been a world-beater, posting pedestrian numbers of 3.28 goals against per game, and an .890 save percentage.
Using Raanta as his comparison, again given the approximate same number of games played, it’s not even close.
Now, what does this all mean?
As far as the regular season goes, there are a lot of people out there who might want to politely offer the Canes and GM Don Waddell an apology for raking Hurricanes management over the coals last summer when all of these moves went down. The collection of reactions would make a fantastic “Mean Tweets” segment on late-night TV, but are wholly inaccurate in retrospect.
But while the Canes goalies’ regular-season numbers are gaudy, things will completely reset in April — at least for Carolina and Toronto. The Red Wings are long out of the playoff picture, but both the Leafs and Canes have visions of Cups dancing in their heads.
Neither Mrazek nor Nedeljkovic have spectacular track records in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Mrazek has a career 2.43 GAA and a .911 save percentage in 29 postseason contests. He was 8-9 over three seasons with the Hurricanes.
Nedeljkovic’s first postseason in the NHL was last season, when he posted a 2.17 and .920 in nine games with the Canes, going 4-5.
By contrast, Andersen has seen plenty of playoff action, most of the time after long regular seasons during which he carried the bulk of the team’s net time.
In 53 playoff starts, Andersen is 27-23, with a 2.55 GAA and .916. His deepest run came with the Ducks in 2014-15, but his resume also includes four consecutive first-round exits with the Maple Leafs from 2017-20. Also to note in those seasons, though, Anderson played in 75 percent of his team’s games in the regular season, a pace he was on here until this past week’s injury layoff.
Raanta, meanwhile, has yet to start a playoff game in his nine NHL seasons.
While the jury is still technically out, given the lofty goals the Canes have set for themselves — and those the fan base has invariably set for its beloved team — the team’s goaltending moves appear to have been sound.
And all it took to support that argument was a little bit of channel surfing on Thursday night.
