The Hurricanes announced they’ve reassigned forward Tyson Jost to AHL Chicago. They haven’t done anything to fill his roster spot, although head coach Rod Brind’Amour also confirmed that goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov has entered concussion protocol after leaving Saturday’s shootout loss to the Blue Jackets and doesn’t have a timeline for a return (per the team’s Walt Ruff).
Carolina is now officially without their top two goaltenders for the foreseeable future. Starter Frederik Andersen hasn’t played in nearly a month and recently underwent knee surgery that will keep him out of action until January or February.
Kochetkov, 25, left the Columbus game during overtime after teammate Sean Walker inadvertently skated into his head while trying to stop a rush chance from Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski. There appeared to be significant whiplash on the play, but as with any head injury and subsequent concussion, Kochetkov’s absence could be anywhere from a week to more than a month.
A 2019 second-round pick, the young Kochetkov has had to step up many times in recent seasons with injury-prone veterans Andersen and Antti Raanta ahead of him. He started the year as the undisputed No. 2 for the first time after Raanta became an unrestricted free agent and wasn’t brought back following a brutal 2023-24 campaign. He’s done well in 13 starts, posting a 10-2-0 record with a .904 SV% and 2.42 GAA. That’s been good enough for 3.9 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck, up from last year’s 0.7 mark despite his decreased SV% and GAA.
The buck now falls on 29-year-old journeyman Spencer Martin and inexperienced 24-year-old Yaniv Perets, although it’s hard to imagine the championship-contending Hurricanes not making a move to add a more stable name to their crease if Kochetkov trends toward missing significant time. Perets has not logged NHL ice aside from stopping one shot in less than 13 minutes of action in a game against the Kings in January of last season, although he served as a backup for Carolina once earlier this month. Martin, meanwhile, has a 1-2-1 record with a .870 SV% and 3.21 GAA in three starts and one relief appearance since coming up to the roster in October in relief of Andersen.
Perets’ minor-league numbers this season don’t portray him as a legitimate NHL option, even in a pinch. The undrafted free agent signing out of Quinnipiac in 2023 has just a .825 SV% and a 3.67 GAA in three AHL appearances for Chicago this season and had a subpar .889 mark in 34 games for ECHL Norfolk in 2023-24.
Jost, 26, heads back to the minors after going without a point in his last six games. The 5’11” center/left winger signed a one-year deal for the league-minimum $775K with Carolina over the offseason after being non-tendered by the Sabres, but he was waived and assigned to Chicago shortly after making the opening night roster. The Canes recalled him just over two weeks ago after he put up a goal and two assists in eight minor-league games, but he averaged just 9:20 through seven NHL appearances with a goal on eight shots. Since he remained on the active roster for fewer than 30 days and played less than 10 games, he doesn’t need waivers to return to the AHL.
Reimer, Raanta, they’re out there.