The Carolina Hurricanes extended goaltender Frederik Andersen on Saturday on a one-year, $2.75 million deal.
The 35-year-old netminder would have been the number one goalie on the free agent market, but instead chooses to stay where he's comfortable.
Andersen spoke with the media via Zoom Sunday morning. Here's what he had to say:
Frederik Andersen
On signing a one-year extension: We were just trying to see what options were out there. I think obviously my agent and Eric [Tulsky] had talked for a while and throughout the last I don't know how many weeks trying to figure out different structures and different ways to get this done. Obviously when they expressed interest to keep me around, I was very thrilled about that and very happy that we could get something done.
On choosing to stay in Carolina versus testing the free agency market: I really just love it here. The years I've been here, we've had really competitive teams and the area is awesome, I love living here and everyone in the organization does a tremendous job. Just very happy to be able to stay here another year on a team that's got very high expectations and shooting for the best. I think that was why I'm just happy to get it done. It provides both the team some clarity going forward for the position next year and obviously gives me some security. Just thrilled about that.
On personal goals: I still feel like I have a good level of play in me. Obviously the last couple of years, there have been some bumps in the road in terms of staying healthy but just continuing to control what I can do to be in the net as much as possible and have that feeling of confidence that I can still help the team both when I'm playing and obviously help Pyotr [Kochetkov] in continuing his development and taking over as a great young goalie in this league. That's what excites me about having this done and being able to be around next year.
On his relationship with goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder: Paul's been great. He's very even keeled and stays very much in his lane in terms of goaltending. I think he has a nice 'less is more' approach. He leans a lot toward letting the goalie play the way that makes him successful. I think if you follow the team well enough, you see how different me and Kooch play in terms of our foundation of the game and obviously that's something he has to manage and not take us too far away from what made us successful and polish what we're already doing well.
On what has made Raleigh feel like home for him: I think all three that you mentioned [teammates, area and organization]. Obviously those are huge factors. It's a nice area. I think before you get here and play here and live here, you probably don't see it as a place you love going as a road team because you maybe stay in certain areas where you don't get to see a lot of stuff. But I think when you do get around and explore the area, it's hard not to fall in love with it. Obviously the weather is very good for most parts of the year and you still get all four seasons, which I think is great. And again, the people around town are just super friendly and I think we also get spoiled when we play in Lenovo Center with our fans and their engagement. It's unbelievable. That all adds up and makes this place an awesome place to play.
On if he's been thinking at all about a potential Olympic run: Not too much at the moment. Obviously I'm very interested in going to play if everything goes well when we get to that point. There's a lot of stuff before though and we're focused on what we have going on right now in this playoff run. But yeah, when we get to that next year, I'm sure I'll be interested in going. It would be a very cool experience to get to represent my country and get to be a part of that best-on-best tournament.
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