Up next in the search for a new Penguins goaltender we have a player who has a lot going for him. He has great results, he is an unrestricted free agent, and his cost should be reasonable. Today’s target is none other than, Antti Raanta.
Raanta has had excellent results… when he’s been able to stay in the net. A big reason why he is likely to be available and his cost reasonable is because of his durability. He has been in the league since 2013-14 (8 seasons) and has only played in 198 total games. A 50 game per year pace would have him near 400 games and not the 198 he has actually played in. Some of this time was spent as a backup in Chicago to Corey Crawford and in New York to Henrik Lundqvist, but he had the door wide open in Arizona and couldn’t stay healthy.
Given all of that he is still a legit option for teams out there because you cannot ignore his performance
His recent three seasons are only a 57 game sample and his all-situations save percentage was .914. Not bad considering the injury issues. His 198 game sample in the NHL has him at an all-situations save percentage of .919, which is great
Since 207-18 when he arrived in Arizona Raanta ranks 10th overall among goaltenders in goals saved above average at 5v5 at 24.87 per Natural Stat Trick. This is despite only two goalies (both below him) in the top twenty playing in fewer games than him during the 2017-21 sample. The names in the top twenty below him are:
The ones above him:
He compares favorably to a lot of name brand goaltenders.
The Coyotes are likely to move forward with Darcy Kuemper (who is also 31) as their starter. He played well enough in Raanta’s absence to give them this option. While Raanta isn’t absent risk (what goalie is?) I think he will be at a price point that makes him quite an interesting low risk high reward candidate for the 2021-22 season. He certainly has a legit pedigree when he is able to stay healthy.
Thanks for reading!