-Gabriel Dorris-

At the start of the season, and still today, the Edmonton Oilers had goaltending issues named as the number one reason for their terrible beginning, and for good reason. They’ve had a .874 SV% through 22 games, and this isn’t the lowest it’s been. Jack Campbell, who is supposed to be their starter, had such a poor start that he was to the AHL. But the difference between the Canes and the Oilers is that this goaltending has led preseason cup contender Edmonton to an 8-12-1 record off of an even worse 2-9-1 start. The Canes are 13-8-1, which is disappointing, but also not bad. The fact that they’ve managed to win games despite poor goaltending has masked just how much of an issue it’s been. But they still have the worst SV% in the NHL at .867, which raises two questions- why, and what can be done about it?

Why?

In the offseason, the Canes kept their goaltending trio of Frederick Andersen, Antti Raanta, and Pyotr Kochetkov. The first two had been solid in two years as a Cane, albeit injury-prone, and Kochetkov looked about ready to break into the NHL. Kochetkov started the season in the AHL, with Raanta and Andersen sharing the duties for the team. After October 17th, Raanta had a .838 SV% through two games, and Andersen had a .855 in two and two shots in another. That other was San Jose, where he was injured. As a result, Pyotr Kochetkov was recalled from the AHL. Before Andersen’s return, PK would put up a .836 SV% in three matchups.

.836

.855

.838

These are three terrible starts, and you’d be right to guess they weren’t entirely on the goaltenders. The Canes gave up three or more goals in seven straight games to start the year and five or more in four. In many of these games, goaltending was a problem, but the Canes were forfeiting dangerous chances in front of the net, odd-man rushes, and wide-open one-timers.

Andersen would return on the 26th, and in his three starts between then and November 2nd, he had a SV% above .920 every game and totaled a .925. Raanta only started one game in that span, where he put up a shutout against an admittedly terrible Sharks team. But things were looking up, both in terms of goaltending and defense. However, Frederik Andersen would soon after be diagnosed with a blood clotting issue, one that has kept him out since then. That’s left Raanta and Kochetkov as the duo- a career backup and a goalie who had less than thirty career games before this season.

They’ve both been on and off since. Kochetkov put up a shutout against the Lightning and had a .929 SV% in November until he let in five against the Islanders on the 30th. Kochetkov put up a .688 in the previously mentioned game, and Raanta had a .429 on 14 shots against Tampa on November 24th (which gave Tampa the highest shooting percentage over a full match of all time). Were these entirely on the goaltenders?

No.

Were they still terrible games by them?

Yes.

For a couple of reasons, the Canes play a style that leads to their goalies often having relatively low save percentages- first of all, they play a style that leads to very few shots against, but those few shots are very high danger. So goaltenders will face roughly 15 shots in a game, which is one every four minutes, but that one is in front of the net, high danger. So suddenly, you have the goaltender, who hasn’t touched rubber in four minutes, trying to stop and then handle a pure snipe. We’ve seen this year after year, and it’s been a consistent problem.

But this is still a far worse year compared to the last few goaltending-wise- part of that can be chopped down to who the personnel is, so that lends to a seemingly obvious solution.

Trade for a Goalie?

It’s possible, but there are a few issues here. First of all, is the question of WHO we would trade for.

James Reimer of the Detroit Red Wings has been on and off throughout his career, but he’s still had a .911 overall and has started hot with a .914 this season while being paid $1.5m. But he’s also been a backup for most of his career, and the Canes don’t need another backup. With this and the high price the playoff-contending Red Wings will demand after his hot start, I’m not sure if it’s the right move.

Petr Mzerak, Cayden Primeau, and Sam Montembeault have also been noted as targets, but they’d all probably be too expensive for what they are. There’s also the option of including Raanta in a trade, but if the Canes aren’t confident in Antti to the point where they’d trade him for a career backup, other teams likely won’t be willing to take him.

So if the Canes need to spend big anyway, maybe they should spend BIG? If that’s the idea, the candidates are Juuse Saros, Karel Vejmelka, and Carter Hart. All three goalies are clear starters playing on mediocre to bad teams, and all three have been listed as trade candidates for a while now. John Gibson fits this criteria as well, but the Canes FO is likely expecting Kochetkov to play as the starter next year, so a contract that runs until 2027 isn’t a good fit for the Canes.

But the issue here is that the Canes already have a starter. When healthy, Andersen is capable of being a top 10 goalie in the NHL, and his performance last playoffs was incredible and a big part of why Carolina made the ECF. Right now, we don’t know when Freddie will be back. But until we get a timetable, I agree it’s not a good idea to make a massive, reactionary deal.

But what if we hear the news that nobody wants- what if Andersen is out for the rest of the season and playoffs? Then what would a trade for one of these big four look like? Because without a clear starter, this team won’t have a good chance at a cup.

Some players who could be a part of a deal include

Pyotr Kochetkov has shown flashes of elite skill in his first 30 or so games, and he 100% still has the potential to be a top 10 NHL starter. He would be a gambit for any team that took him, but especially in the case of the Flyers, if a young goalie with great potential gets traded, then another promising young goalie coming back the other way would be more than ideal.

Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei are two rock-solid defensemen on contract years. With an extension in place, they’d be very high-value additions to any team that took them.

Ryan Suzuki and Vasily Ponomarev are two forward prospects who have yet to play an NHL game, and a big reason for that is the logjam of depth that the Canes have all around their roster. If moved to a rebuilding team, they’d finally get a chance.

Martin Necas is a young Czech forward who has shown flashes on the Canes, and his 17 points in 23 outings this year has him on pace for a 60-point outing, but in a different system where he could focus less on the defensive system and use his skill more, he could potentially put up 80, 90, or even 100. Because of this, he’d be a very high-value addition to any trade.

Any of these players (excluding Suzuki and Pono) could probably make a deal work on their own, but instead of trading away a big name, I think that if the front office did acquire someone, it would be a deal made of futures.

Something like Raanta, a 2024 1st, and Ryan Suzuki would be enough for Vejmelka and a great start to whatever deal could acquire Hart.

But overall, not knowing the situation with Andersen and with Kochetkov playing better lately, it’s impossible to say if we’ll make a trade here and for whom, and right now, all of this is just speculation.