Heading into the 2026-27 season, goaltending was perhaps the biggest question mark for the Carolina Hurricanes.

The defending Stanley Cup champions lost five-year veteran starter Frederik Andersen to free agency and the remaining two netminders under contract weren't necessarily sure things.

The team was going to be relying on Pyotr Kochetkov, who was coming off of a serious injury that had kept him out of NHL action for nearly 10 months, and Brandon Bussi, who had only one year of NHL experience.

But both netminders have done their jobs so far, helping propel the Canes to the best record in the league (9-2-2).

However, one goalie has really started to separate themselves in the early goings.

Through the first 13 games of the year, 27-year-old netminder Pyotr Kochetkov has looked like a world beater.

Despite the extended absence due to hip surgery, the Russian goalie has hit the ground running, off to one of the best starts ever by a Hurricanes netminder with wins in each of his first seven starts (Andersen holds the record for most wins to start a season at eight; 2021-22).

"He's making big saves at the right times," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "Some nights we don't give him that much, but there's always a time where he has to make a play or a save for us and that's what he's done all year.

In those seven games, Kochetkov has a 0.916 save percentage (9th amongst goalies to have played in at least five games), 1.70 goals against average (3rd) and has saved 4.4 goals above expected (11th).

Saturday was also Kochetkov's 12th career shutout, stopping all 24 shots he faced from the St. Louis Blues.

"I thought the goaltending was on display with how you do it," Brind'Amour said following the 4-0 win over St. Louis. "A couple big saves when you need it because the game can change so quickly if it goes the other way. He was obviously the first star tonight."

More than just making the saves in the crease though, Kochetkov has demonstrated very clean rebound control and his ability to come out and play the puck has helped to facilitate cleaner and faster breakouts for Carolina's defense too.

It just seems like everything is finally coming together for Kochetkov.

"Guys play every night very nice," said the always humble Kochetkov. "Lots of blocked shots. I just try to do my job and guys do a good job every time. I just try and mentally, I'm just ready for every game very similarly."

Kochetkov has always been the Hurricanes' netminder with the highest ceiling.

I mean, c'mon, nearly 10% of all of his NHL starts (12/127) have resulted in a shutout victory.

"He's a guy that we have a lot of high hopes for," Brind'Amour said. "Injuries and things have kind of hampered that a little, but the talent is there and we're certainly seeing it these last few games. That's the most important position. If we can get that play out of him, we'll be in good shape."

Kochetkov has dealt with ebbs and flows in his career, showing flashes of brilliance but also stretches of struggles and so for him, the most important thing will be to remain consistent on the year and not let a bad game snowball.

It's something he feels he's better prepared for this season, his fifth as a full-time NHLer.

"After last season, I never think about 'I want this many games.' or stuff like that," Kochetkov said. "I just try and think about practice, recovery and next day. Nothing more because all my career, I looked too far every time. At first, I want to go to the NHL. After that it's I want to be first goalie, I want to play more, blah, blah. When you're older and you see a little bit of a different angle of your life and your game, now I just want to be excited for what I do and play games."

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