The Carolina Hurricanes will be without the services of goaltender Frederik Andersen for the foreseeable future as he battles a blood clotting issue which requires medical attention.
Andersen has been sidelined since November 2nd following a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers, but until now it wasn’t known what was causing his absence from team activities.
“During recent medical testing, it was discovered that Frederik Andersen had a blood clotting issue that needed to be addressed,” general manager Don Waddell said in a statement. “There is currently no timetable for his return, but we are confident that Freddie will be able to make a full recovery.”
The 34 year old is in his 3rd season with the Hurricanes, and is signed through the 2024-25 campaign at an AAV of $3.4M. Canes fans were alerted that something was likely amiss when the club brought in 38 year old backup Jaroslav Halak for a professional tryout earlier this week.
When news that Halak would be trying out as a free agent first broke, Carolina simply labelled Andersen as unavailable due to a medical issue. Now, it’s unknown how long the former Ducks netminder will be sidelined as player and club alike look to correct the issue before ramping up any kind of hockey activities.
“[Halak has] been out there,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “With Freddie going down, we needed another guy. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got that position covered. We’re covering our bases a little bit.”
It’s also expected that goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov will be recalled from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch in short order as well.
Carolina currently sits in 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division with a 7-5 record through the first 12 games of the season. The club is next in action on Tuesday evening as they play host to the Buffalo Sabres in a 7pm ET matchup.
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