RALEIGH, N.C. - The Carolina Hurricanes will be without goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov for a minimum of three games due to a lower-body injury.
Rod Brind'Amour told reporters Saturday morning at Lenovo Center that the latest re-evaluation was "nothing serious" but also provided a necessary timeframe that was "longer than we were hoping for."
Kochetkov missed a few skates during the final days of training camp, but played all 60+ minutes of the team's last exhibition game on Oct. 4 in Nashville. Brind'Amour had said earlier in the week that Kochetkov made it through the game okay, but "got nicked up again" in a practice on Monday.
The timetable of "at least a week" puts the 26-year-old out of action until Saturday, Oct. 18, meaning he'll miss the first half of the team's upcoming six-game road trip. The plane heads west to San Jose on Monday, and Brind'Amour is hopeful that Kochetkov can at least be with his teammates.
In his absence, the Canes will roll with the pair of Frederik Andersen and Brandon Bussi. Andersen started the season 1-0 and will be between the pipes again on Saturday against Philadelphia.
Brind'Amour is on record many times saying that in a perfect world, Andersen and Kochetkov would play an even split of 41 games this regular season, and although the team's upcoming trip features at least a one-day break between games - two between Vegas (10/20) and Colorado (10/23) - the coaching staff may find themselves in at least one situation where they'd like to give Andersen a game off.
If that's the case, Brind'Amour said he would have confidence in playing the new waiver claim, Bussi.
"Of course. That's why we picked him up," he answered. "We've played three goalies the last how many years? We're always using a third guy, so we definitely have no problem with that."
Bussi, 27, has appeared in 111 career AHL games with the Providence Bruins, going 63-31-13 with a 2.61 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage, and eight shutouts. He was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2022-23, after earning a 22-5-4 record with a 2.40 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. The Sound Beach, NY, native played collegiately at Western Michigan, where he was 46-25-5 with a 2.61 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.
