Understanding the Hurricanes’ moves in NHL free agency and why they made them

While the waiting continued Wednesday on free agent defenseman Dougie Hamilton, the Carolina Hurricanes were busy reshaping their lineup.

The Hurricanes, on the first day of NHL free agency, signed goalies Frederik Andersen and Antii Raanta. They traded forward Warren Foegele to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Ethan Bear while also signing veteran defenseman Ian Cole and forward Josh Leivo.

Hamilton, an unrestricted free agent, was believed to be headed to the New Jersey Devils, although no announcement was made in the first four hours of free agency. And the Canes’ acquisition of Bear and Cole, then the signing of defenseman Tony DeAngelo, indicated the Hurricanes were putting defensive replacements in place.

The Canes were left without a signed NHL goalie after trading Alex Nedeljkovic, a restricted free agent, to the Detroit Red Wings last week for the rights to UFA goalie Jonathan Bernier. Petr Mrazek and James Reimer both were UFAs looking elsewhere.

Mrazek signed Wednesday with the Toronto Maple Leafs as the Leafs and Canes, in essence, swapped free-agent goalies — Andersen for Mrazek. Reimer later signed with the San Jose Sharks.

Raanta, 32, agreed to a contract that will pay him $2 million a year for two years. While the Canes had not officially announced the Andersen signing by late afternoon, CapFriendly.com and other media reports had him signing a two-year contract for $4.5 million a year.

“Antii is an established goalie who put up strong numbers in his career,” Canes president and general manager Don Waddell said in a statement.

Staying with the Canes was UFA forward Jordan Martinook, an alternate captain who agreed to a three-year deal. Leaving was UFA forward Brock McGinn, a popular player with Canes fans and coach Rod Brind’Amour who took a four-year offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“Jordan has played a tremendous part in helping to change the culture of our organization over the past three years,” Waddell said. “He’s an asset to our team and our community, and we’re a tougher team to play against with him on the ice.”

Waddell expects Leivo, 28, to be a capable replacement for McGinn, saying, “Josh is an experienced two-way forward. We expect him to fit our playing system well.”

The Canes had been in negotiations with Hamilton and his agent, J.P. Barry, since the season ended with the playoff loss to Tampa Bay, but were unable to reach a suitable agreement. Hamilton’s value on the free-agent market was higher than the Canes were offering.

Bear, 24, will give the Canes a young defenseman and Cole, who will be with his fifth NHL team, the needed experience to help offset Hamilton’s loss. Cole, who has won two Stanley Cups, signed a one-year deal for $2.9 million, the team said.

“Ethan is a young, right-shot defenseman with offensive upside,” Waddell said in a statement. “We’re excited to add him to our team as he continues to grow as an NHL player.”

DeAngelo, whose signing was upsetting to many Canes fans, has some offensive upside to his game that he showed at times with the New York Rangers. That was before his behavioral problems caused him to be put on unconditional waivers and then his contract bought out by New York.

Mrazek, after three seasons with the Canes, accepted a three-year offer from the Toronto Maple Leafs that will pay him a reported $3.8 million a season. Reimer signed a two-year deal with San Jose for $2.25 million a year.

The Canes drafted Andersen, 31, in the seventh round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft but could not sign the Denmark native. While he has a lot of NHL experience — 393 regular-season games, 53 playoff games in eight seasons — Andersen was sidelined by a knee injury part of this past season as Jack Campbell took over as the Leafs’ No. 1 guy in net.

Andersen finished the 2020-21 season with a 13-8-3 record, 2.96 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage. He did not appear in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in his career.

Andersen’s overall record in eight NHL seasons is 226-100-48, with a 2.65 GAA and .915 save percentage. He won a career-high 38 games for the Maple Leafs in 2017-18.

Raanta, 32, has a 93-65-20 record in eight seasons, the last four with the Arizona Coyotes. Raanta, who has had injury problems, is coming off an uneven season in which he started just 11 games and was 5-5-2 with a 3.36 GAA and .905 save percentage.

Andersen was something of a surprise draft pick by the Canes in 2010, taken No. 187 overall. It was noted at the time that he was in net when Denmark beat Finland in the 2010 IIHF World Championship and was a big backstop at 6-4 and 220 pounds. He was later selected in the third round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks at 87th overall.

After parts of three seasons with the Ducks — Anaheim reached the 2015 Western Conference finals in the Stanley Cup playoffs — he was traded to the Maple Leafs in June 2016 and soon signed a five-year, $25 million extension.

Andersen has a playoff record of 27-23 record, 2.55 GAA and .916 save percentage. He won 11 playoff games with the Ducks in 2015.