Hurricanes goalie situation: Is this Pyotr Kochetkovs time to take control?

June 25, 2024

RALEIGH, N.C. — The door is cracked open for Pyotr Kochetkov. Now he just needs to charge through it.

With the news that Hurricanes No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen will be sidelined for an indeterminate amount of time with a “blood-clotting issue,” Carolina recalled Kochetkov, the 24-year-old Russian goaltender, from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch on Monday.

Also arriving in Raleigh that day was veteran goalie Jaroslav Halak, who signed a professional tryout and practiced with the Hurricanes. With first-year professional Yaniv Perets the only other goalie in the Hurricanes’ minor-league ranks, adding the 38-year-old Halak would provide veteran depth.

But while Antti Raanta will get first crack on being Carolina’s top goalie — the 34-year-old made his case with a 20-save performance in Tuesday’s win over Buffalo — and Halak, if signed, would be a suitable insurance policy, this is Kochetkov’s chance to seize a spot with the Hurricanes. The four-year, $8 million contract extension he signed with the Hurricanes last November was a clear indication that Carolina believes he’s capable of big things.

“He obviously impressed us when he first came on the scene, and we certainly know he’s got a lot of potential,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said before Tuesday’s game. “But he’s gonna have to take advantage of it.”

Kochetkov was drafted in the second round, No. 36 overall, by Carolina in 2019, with one of the draft picks obtained from Buffalo in the trade that sent Jeff Skinner to the Sabres. (Another of those picks, No. 68 overall in 2020, was used to draft another Russian, top prospect Alexander Nikishin.)

Kochetkov made the jump from the KHL to North America in February 2022, joining the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and going 13-1-1 with a 2.09 goals-against average and .921 save percentage.

When Andersen was placed on injured reserve in mid-April of that season, Kochetkov was recalled to Carolina. He won all three of his regular-season appearances and played in four playoff games — including against Boston, in which Kochetkov exhibited his fiery on-ice persona and confronted Bruins super pest Brad Marchand.

Marchand and Kochetkov get into it.. end up with matching minors for slashing. pic.twitter.com/icqgF5AUfg

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 5, 2022

After the Hurricanes were eliminated by the Rangers in the second round, Kochetkov returned to Chicago and helped the Wolves win the Calder Cup.

He started last season with the Wolves but bounced between the AHL and NHL, getting recalled three times. He played 24 games with the Hurricanes, going 12-7-5 with a 2.44 goals-against average and .909 save percentage, and he came on in relief in one playoff game against the Devils.

It’s been an interesting 2023-24 season thus far for Kochetkov. After the partnership between the Hurricanes and the Wolves dissolved in the offseason, Carolina was left without an AHL affiliate with which to place its prospects. While the Hurricanes sent several players to the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals, Kochetkov was loaned to Syracuse, the top affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Kochetkov’s English is still a work in progress, so going to a team full of unfamiliar faces didn’t make for an easy transition.

“It’s a little bit of stress,” Kochetkov said before Tuesday’s game. “It’s my first time (and) I don’t know who’s who. Later (it was fine). I play a lot of games, no problems.”

He played one game for Syracuse — a 31-save win in Utica — before being recalled to Carolina when Andersen was knocked from a game after being struck in the mask with a puck. He lost all three of his starts — five of the 11 goals he allowed were on special teams as the Hurricanes struggled with defensive structure and penalty-killing in a 3-4-0 start to the season — before returning to the Crunch.

The trials of going up and down while playing as an outsider with the Crunch didn’t affect his play. Kochetkov picked up two more wins for Syracuse — including a 19-save shutout on Oct. 28 — to improve to 3-0-0 with a .932 save percentage and 1.63 goals-against average.

“I don’t see my stats,” Kochetkov said. “The whole (Syracuse) team helped me every day.”

Kochetkov got the call again when Andersen was placed on injured reserve with his blood-clotting issues.

“It was a surprise,” Kochetkov said. “After practice, the team told me I’m coming back to the NHL. My life is just day to day. I don’t know how it is later.”

Returning to Carolina means reuniting with familiar players, coaches and staff. Winger Andrei Svechnikov, who hadn’t yet returned to the lineup after offseason knee injury when Kochetkov played his first string of games with the Hurricanes this season, has been a helping hand and a de facto translator for his countryman since he came to North America two seasons ago.

“I’m not trying to be a mentor, but I’m trying to help him out for sure,” Svechnikov said. “In any situation, he can always ask me or ask (defenseman Dmitry Orlov) as well. Just the little stuff to help him, but he’s got coaches who’re gonna tell him what to do.”

Those coaches — along with his teammates — are hoping Kochetkov can be the player who went on an 8-0-2 run last November and December. The first seven games of that point streak were on the road, including back-to-back shutouts on Long Island and in Detroit.

That made Kochetkov the first rookie in franchise history to post consecutive shutouts, and he is one of just 58 rookie goalies in NHL history to accomplish the feat, according to Hockey-Reference. It’s a list that includes two of the top active goalies in the league, fellow Russians Igor Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin, along with 10 Hockey Hall of Famers.

With the timetable for Andersen’s return uncertain, Kochetkov could be in Raleigh for an extended time, which should limit shuttling back and forth to Syracuse.

“It’s hard for Kochy to go up and down,” Svechnikov said. “It’s hard mentally, physically, everything, but obviously this a big opportunity for him.”

With nearly three dozen NHL games behind him and a Stanley Cup-caliber roster in front of him, Kochetkov’s time could be now.

“You never know when your opportunity is really going to arrive,” Brind’Amour said. “But obviously with Freddie being out for an extended period of time, I’m assuming he’ll get his fair share of starts. And you’ve got to make them count, right?”

Kochetkov’s new mask features a church from his hometown of Penza, about 400 miles southeast of Moscow.

Pyotr Kochetkov’s mask, which made a brief appearance in relief against Seattle earlier this season. pic.twitter.com/4LQPMADwjL

— Cory Lavalette (@corylav) November 7, 2023

It’s a reminder both of home and how far he’s come in just 21 months.

“To play in the NHL, it is my dream,” he said. “I’m very happy.”

(Photo of Pyotr Kochetkov : Josh Lavallee / NHLI via Getty Images)

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