Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta acknowledged to Ryan Henkel of The Hockey News that he left both term and money on the table when he decided to re-sign with Carolina on the opening day of free agency back in July. The 34-year-old put up back-to-back strong seasons with the Hurricanes and posted a 2.23 GAA along with a .910 SV% in 27 games last year, numbers that seemingly had him positioned for a raise on the $2MM AAV of his previous deal but instead, he accepted a one-year, $1.5MM agreement. Frederik Andersen also re-signed on July 1st and with Carolina also not having an AHL affiliate this season, Pyotr Kochetkov could also be in the mix as well which means one of the stronger goalie trios remains intact for the upcoming season.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that winger Jake Guentzel appears to be progressing as planned as he works his way back from ankle surgery done roughly seven weeks ago. GM Kyle Dubas was hoping that the 28-year-old would only miss the first five games of the season after it was speculated that he could be out considerably longer. An updated timeline for Guentzel’s return should come later in the preseason.
- MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that Red Wings goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa has a lot to prove in training camp. The 20-year-old spent last season in the ECHL and is expected to move up to AHL Grand Rapids this season but had a very rough showing in the prospect tournament, allowing 12 goals on 39 shots. Veteran netminder Michael Hutchinson signed a PTO soon after so Cossa now has some competition for a spot that was widely expected to be his to partner with Alex Lyon with the Griffins this season.
If it ain’t broken, great trio, one of them might go via trade before the end of this season.