The Top 5 under 25 goaltenders entering the 2023-24 NHL season

Pyotr Kochetkov – Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov, 23, is an entertaining goaltender to watch. He supplies top notch saves at critical times along with a feisty style of play. Another young, huge goaltender at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, he moves extremely well between the pipes. Carolina’s 2nd round pick (36th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft, he has shown glimpses of how he can take control of the net. He may be a surprise to some but he has played well at every stop of his career.

Last season, Kochetkov played extremely well for the Hurricanes. He posted a record of 12-7-5 with a 2.44 GAA and a .900 save percentage with four shutouts. In the playoffs, he saw only one game of action, going 0-1 with a 6.14 GAA and an .818 save percentage. For his career, Kochetkov is 15-7-5 with a .909 save percentage and a 2.43 GAA. His career numbers in the playoffs are 1-3 with a .858 save percentage and a 4.31 GAA.

Kochetkov was the 2022/2023 NHL Rookie of the Month for December. His stats, like Schmid, closely resemble those of Canes starter Frederick Anderson. Anderson posted a record of 21-11-1 with a .903 save percentage and a GAA of 2.48. Kochetkov has a big year coming up also as he is in great position to take over the backup role and eventually a starting position. Anderson has two years left on his contract while current backup, Antti Raanta, has only one more year. Kochetkov has three years left on his coming into this season so his time between the pipes is coming sooner than later as he puts himself in a great position to be more successful. Kochetkov may not wait for that spot to open up as he does have the talent to oversee Anderson as the starting goaltender at some point this season.