Carolina Hurricanes’ Frederik Andersen leaves game early with upper-body injury

The injury troubles just don’t stop for Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen, as he leaves Wednesday night’s game against the Dallas Stars early with an upper-body injury.

Per the broadcast via Canes PR, Andersen will not return due to an upper-body injury.

— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) January 26, 2023

There’s currently no indication as to what caused the injury for Andersen during the game, or the severity of the injury. Andersen played in the first period of the game, but then Antti Raanta took over in the second period, with Andersen confirmed by the team to be out for the rest of the night. Andersen allowed two goals on just six shots through the first period before leaving the game.

Andersen has already missed a significant chunk of the season, missing more than two months due to a lower-body injury. He had played just five games since he was activated off of long-term injured reserve on January 11th.

As a result of the injuries, Andersen has gotten into just 13 games on the year. Before entering tonight’s game, he had a 9-3-0 record and a .910 save percentage, with 2.6 goals saved above expected.

If Andersen is to miss a significant chunk of time, the Canes will likely go back to the tandem of Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov that they ran with during his last injury. Raanta is 10-2-3 with a .894 save percentage and -3.14 goals saved above expected, while Kochetkov has had a breakout season with a 10-4-5 record, .913 save percentage, and 8.45 goals saved above expected.

Andersen was originally a seventh round draft pick by the Hurricanes in 2010, but was never signed and drafted again by the Anaheim Ducks in the third round of the 2012 draft. He spent eight seasons between the Ducks and the Toronto Maple Leafs before he signed with the Hurricanes in free agency in 2021. He’s in the final year of that contract, a two-year deal with a $4.5 million cap hit, and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.