Goaltender announces official departure from the NHL
Photo credit: NHL
Just weeks after his last contract with the Carolina Hurricanes expired, veteran goaltender Antti Ranta officially announced he is leaving the NHL to play in Europe.
Antti Raanta has been a solid backup goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes since the 2021-22 season, playing 79 games as part of the roster. The veteran goaltender most notably helped the team in their playoff run his first postseason, playing in 13 of their 17 games and posting a .922 save percentage before being eliminated in Game 7 of the second round against the New York Rangers. Though he did not lead them to a Stanley Cup, he won that year's William M. Jennings Trophy, along with Frederik Andersen.
At 35 years old, many fans believed Antti Raanta may be the right guy for a PTO deal, particularly for the Vancouver Canuckswith the Thatcher Demko conundrum. However, the former Canes goalie has officially announced he will retire from the league. According to the Finnish player in a recent interview, he had no interest in a probation-style or largely AHL deal. He still feels drawn to play professional hockey, but will instead look to play closer to his family back in Europe.
"At the end of the season and in the summer, I thought about all sorts of things, but as the summer progressed and my body felt good, Europe started to attract more.
There was a second or third-string role and possibly playing in the AHL. It's not necessarily the thing to weigh up to 60 games in the AHL at 35 and just wait for maybe someone to fail or get injured and you'll get in a rut.
I knocked it out right away and announced that I'd kind of made my decision not to go there anymore. A few hours ago I was suddenly on a Zoom call with Marko Torenius and GM. It would have been more of a probation-type setup.
There is no longer such a passion that I would go there tooth and nail to fight for a place.
There could be more meaningful places in Europe for me and my family, but you can't say that I returned to Europe to cool down. You have to catch pucks here too. But I weighed for 11 years in the NHL. Now was a good time to return to Europe with my family."
There was a second or third-string role and possibly playing in the AHL. It's not necessarily the thing to weigh up to 60 games in the AHL at 35 and just wait for maybe someone to fail or get injured and you'll get in a rut.
I knocked it out right away and announced that I'd kind of made my decision not to go there anymore. A few hours ago I was suddenly on a Zoom call with Marko Torenius and GM. It would have been more of a probation-type setup.
There is no longer such a passion that I would go there tooth and nail to fight for a place.
There could be more meaningful places in Europe for me and my family, but you can't say that I returned to Europe to cool down. You have to catch pucks here too. But I weighed for 11 years in the NHL. Now was a good time to return to Europe with my family."
Antti Raanta has played 277 NHL games and a career 2.48 GAA, which is a solid career for an NHL backup goaltender and surely enough to land some contract across the pond. Hopefully, his next steps in the sport bring him more of the competition on the ice and the comfort at home he has been missing. Where he plans to sign remains unknown at this time.
Source: Hockey Patrol
Veteran goaltender Officially retires from NHL hockey
Veteran goaltender Officially retires from NHL hockey
| POLL | ||
14 SEPTEMBRE | 32 ANSWERS Goaltender announces official departure from the NHL Will Antti Raanta have a better career in Europe than in the NHL | ||
| Yes | 16 | 50 % |
| No, worse | 2 | 6.3 % |
| No, about the same | 14 | 43.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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