The Hurricanes swapped backup goaltenders on Wednesday, announcing they recalled the newly signed Dustin Tokarski from AHL Chicago while reassigning Spencer Martin in a corresponding transaction.
Carolina signed Tokarski, 35, to a one-year, two-way contract on Monday. They immediately placed him on waivers to send him down to Chicago, where he’d spent the season to date on a minor-league deal, and he cleared yesterday.
They’ll turn to the highly experienced netminder to give them more passable play in a backup role than what Martin has provided them over the past few weeks. He’ll play sparingly as long as Pyotr Kochetkov is healthy – he’s the de facto No. 1 as Frederik Andersen is on the shelf recovering from knee surgery – and his .933 SV% and 1.61 GAA in five AHL showings this season suggests he’s still up to the task.
It’s no surprise to see Carolina look elsewhere for a temporary backup after Martin posted a sub-.900 SV% in all but one of his seven starts last month. He allowed 10 goals on just 57 shots faced in back-to-back losses to the Panthers last Friday and Saturday and has a horrid .846 SV% to go along with his 3-4-1 record in nine total appearances.
Tokarski now gets a shot at playing in his first NHL game since he was a member of the Penguins in the 2022-23 season. The Saskatchewan native has rarely been a full-time NHL option throughout his lengthy professional career, but he did briefly get a chance at being a full-time backup with the Sabres a few years ago. Since making his NHL debut with the Lightning way back in the 2009-10 season, he has a 23-34-12 record, two shutouts, 3.15 GAA, and a .902 SV% in 67 starts and 13 relief appearances.
Tokarski can remain on Carolina’s roster for up to 30 days or play 10 games before he requires waivers to return to the AHL. Martin bypassed waivers today because he’s played in nine games since last clearing waivers during the preseason, and a series of paper transactions have kept him on the active roster for fewer than 30 days since his initial recall in late October.
Our long national nightmare is over…