despite This season the player to watch for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Pyotr Kochetkov seems to be the Carolina Hurricanes’ actual number one goalie for the first time in a long time. Over the previous few seasons, the Hurricanes have deployed an elderly veteran goaltending duo.

This season, Pyotr Kochetkov is the player to watch for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Goalie Pyotr Kochetkov may be the most crucial Hurricanes player to monitor heading into the upcoming season. The Hurricanes have utilized an older goaltending pair in the latter portion of their careers ever since they made the playoffs every season since 2018–2019, which marked their comeback to the race. They employed Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney in 2018 and 2019. Between 2019 and 2020James Reimer and Mrazek were employed. They employed Mrzaek and Alex Nedeljkovic in 2020–2021. Due to a contract issue, Nedeljkovic was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in the offseason despite receiving a nomination for the Calder Trophy for his efforts.

Antti Raanta and Frederick Anderson have been the goaltender duo since 2021–2022, with Kochetkov earning 24 games in 2022–2023. Kochetkov took over as the Hurricanes’ starting goalie last season when Frederick Anderson was sidelined due to a blood clotting problem. He finished with a 23-13-4 record, 2.33 goals against average, and a.911 save percentage.

Many people believe that his play was a major factor in the Hurricanes season’s turnaround. Before the Ottawa Senators game on December 12, no goalie from Carolina had a save percentage higher than 0.894. When play began on December 7, the Hurricanes had the poorest save percentage in the league (0.867), allowed the fewest shots per game (25.00), and had a goal differential of -14.4 above expectations.

Since Cam Ward, Kochetkov is the Hurricanes’ best chance to have a legitimate number one goalie. We believed at the time that Nedeljkovic might be that player, but the trade to Detroit made it unlikely. In retrospect, the Hurricanes’ decision to acquire him might have been justified given his decline in play since joining the Red Wings.

Teams in the NHL today have good reasons to favor the 1A and 1B goalie combo over a real workhorse starter. It first aids in distributing the job between the two goalies more fairly. Second, by distributing some of that contract money, it eases cap worries.

This would not be a problem if the Hurricanes had two excellent goaltenders on one decent contract where age was not a factor (see how the Boston Bruins handled Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark). They would be insane, in fact, if they stopped. The truth for the Hurricanes is that their “1A and 1B” from the previous campaign was the elderly, injured Anderson and the aged, ineffective Antti Raanta, who was once placed on waivers.

Take into account potential playoff performance as well. Because Anderson returned strong, Kochetkov saw his potential post season playing time diminished. Recent teams who have gone on to Stanley Cup championships almost always have their top, go to guy as a workhorse starter in the playoffs, with very few and rare exceptions. Think of how the Tampa Bay Lightning might have finished in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 if they couldn’t count on Andrei Vasilevskiy for every postseason start?

While Kochetkov might be sustainable, none of that is. He can be a reliable presence in the crease and was worth his cap charge for a team in the midst of free agency turbulence. In 2022, Kochetkov agreed to a four-year deal worth an average of $2 million year. Making the choice of who to trust in net should not be one of the Hurricanes’ many decisions. For that reason, Kochetkov’s continued ascent to stardom will be crucial to the Hurricanes’ success in the upcoming year.