The time has come for the final lineup decisions to be made for the Carolina Hurricanes as the opening of the regular season is just one day away. Jake Guentzel and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be the opposition for the first regular season game played at newly re-named, Lenovo Center. The big question will be, who is in between the pipes for the Canes tomorrow night?
Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov have been the biggest contributions in the crease the last two seasons and both players are healthy entering the season. The preseason was evenly split among the two goaltenders, along with Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets.
Frederik Andersen
The biggest concern with Andersen has always been his health. After the New York Rangers eliminated Carolina last spring, fingers pointed at his play. There is no doubt that the Danish keeper would like to have back some of the goals that were let up in that series, but was his play poor enough to take him out of the starting position?
At 35 years old, Andersen has proven to be a solid goaltender but no surprises come with the former third round draft choice of the Anaheim Ducks in the 2012 NHL Draft. Eleven seasons and 495 games later, Andersen has shown his ceiling and that has been good enough to help the Canes reach the Eastern Conference Finals.
After a long absence last season, the regular season finish was stellar with a 1.84 GAA in 16 games. Entering the final year of his contract, his future seems to be short in Raleigh. A new general manager Eric Tulsky and some long-time veterans departing last summer, this team is reshaping its identity.
Andersen still has a place on this team and in the organization but for the sake of his health and the organization, it may be time to take a step back.
Pyotr Kochetkov
The future is now for the Canes and Kochetkov is it. Since joining the organization, the young Russian keeper has been nothing but successful. An AHL title with the Chicago Wolves and solid contributions at the NHL level for parts of three seasons. The signs all point to Kochetkov being ready for the next step in his career.
Playing in a career-high 42 games last season due to Andersen’s injury, the 25-year-old has an impressive 23 victories and 2.33 GAA with a .911 save percentage. A firecracker in the net, Kochetkov exudes confidence and his teammates have taken notice. The team seems to enjoy playing in front of him.
Unlike Andersen, no one knows the true ceiling for the former second round draft choice of the Canes in the 2019 NHL Draft. This potential difference maker could be just the culture change that this new group of Canes needs to catapult to the next level.
At his worst, Kochetkov can keep this club in a game, while learning the bumps and bruises of being a true number one netminder. But the role of Andersen will come in nicely to help guide and spare Kochetkov from time to time.
Tomorrow night number 52 should be in the blue crease wearing the red, black and white to get this season off to a bang. Whether Rod Brind’Amour agrees and obliges, we will have to see.
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