*Photo from NHL.com*
With James Reimer a UFA, Petr Mrazek off to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Alex Nedeljkovic traded, the Carolina Hurricanes were in need of a goalie. So they signed the guy the Maple Leafs let walk. The Hurricanes have signed G Frederik Andersen to a two year, $9 million contract, with a $4.5 million AAV, according to the team.
Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said of adding Andersen that "Frederik has been a starting goalie in this league and has an established track record. We believe that his experience will help us achieve further success."
Andersen was allowed to hit free agency by the Maple Leafs after his backup, Jack Campbell, had a career season, which now has him poised to take over the starting job in Toronto. Andersen coming off of a few down seasons didn't help him either. He also dealt with nagging injury over the course of last season as well, missing significant time in the regular season.
Due to injury, Andersen only played in 24 games for Toronto last season, posting a 13-8-3 record, with a 2.96 GAA and a career low .895 save percentage, the first time it's gone under .900 in his career. In his 8 NHL seasons, between the Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks, Andersen has a 226-100-48 record, with a 2.65 GAA and a .915 save percentage in 393 regular season games, 381 starts.
Andersen said of joining the Hurricanes that "From what I hear, they have a really good team, a really good culture. For that part, I'm really excited they were interested in me. Obviously, I want to prepare and get back to the level I know I can play at. Last year was a difficult year personally, dealing with some injuries. I wasn't able to play the way I wanted to. I definitely feel very motivated to get back to that level again."
Including his solid regular season, Andersen has had a rather solid postseason as well. He has played in 53 career playoff games, Andersen has 27 career wins to 23 losses, with a 2.55 GAA, a .916 save percentage, and 3 shutouts in the playoffs.
Coming to Carolina, Andersen figures to handle the bulk of the time in the Carolina net, as they push for the playoffs, and the Stanley cup.
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