Antti Raanta

At 35 years old, Antti Raanta has this physical status:

Antti Raanta (born 12 May 1989) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and was a part of their Stanley Cup winning team in 2015.

He has also played for the New York Rangers and the Arizona Coyotes.

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Playing career

Raanta signed a three-year contract with Rauman Lukko of Finland in March 2008. Raanta won bronze in the Lukko U20 team in 2009 and had the best save percentage in the U20 league. He was called up to Lukko's men's team but didn't make his Liiga debut until recently. When the U20 national team met each Mestis team in Mestis, he appeared in two games.

Raanta won the Finnish championship with a score of 93 percent and the Lasse Oksanen Trophy for the best player of the regular season, as well as the Jari Kurri Trophy for the best player of the playoffs. In May 2013, HIFK announced that it had signed a two-year deal with Raanta, but that he did not participate in them because he had already signed a Chicago Blackhawks contract.

Raanta signed a one-year, entry-level deal with the Chicago Blackhawks on June 3, 2013. After Chicago's backup goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, sustained an injury in a loss to the Nashville Predators the previous night, he was recalled by the Blackhawks from the American Hockey League (AHL) on November 17th. Raanta made his NHL debut against the Colorado Avalanche on November 19, 2013, taking 14 of 16 shots in relief of starter Corey Crawford. Raanta defeated the Los Angeles Kings at home on December 30, 2013 for his first career shutout. He shot all 26 shots he faced on the season and improved to 10–1–3. For December 2013, Raanta was named Rookie of the Month (an award shared with Los Angeles' goaltender Martin Jones) and went 8–1–3 with just one shutout. Raanta helped end his team's losing streak on January 12th; the Blackhawks had previously lost three straight games, with Crawford in charge of all three losses. Raanta defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5–3.

The Blackhawks announced Raanta to a two-year contract extension on June 27, 2014.

The Blackhawks reported on November 15th, 2014, that Raanta had been sent to the Rockford IceHogs to make room for rookie goaltender Scott Darling. Raanta was called up from the IceHogs and placed on the Blackhawks' roster on December 17th, 2014, replacing goaltender Darling, who was then demoted back to Rockford after being suspended. However, the Blackhawks recalled Raanta to the IceHogs after a 6–2 loss against the Boston Bruins on February 22, 2015, and brought Darling to his place. Raanta was recalled on April 12th, 2015, to play with the Blackhawks in the playoffs, but did not appear in any more games. Raanta was given the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup and a Stanley Cup ring, but he did not complete the minimum game requirement to have his name on the Stanley Cup, and he never participated in the playoffs, because by this time he had been promoted to the Blackhawks' third-string goaltender. Chicago did not request an exemption because he was playing in the minors until the trade deadline and was not dressed during the playoffs.

Raanta was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Ryan Haggerty, but he was unable to earn back the backup role on the Blackhawks at season's conclusion.

Raanta will face Magnus Hellberg for the back-up role behind Henrik Lundqvist, Raanta's second-in-a-fight until Hellberg was sent to the American Hockey League (AHL). The Rangers' 17 December game against the Minnesota Wild was played in net (Lundqvist was scheduled to begin against the Winnipeg Jets the next day). However, Raanta took a slapshot to the head from Wild defenseman Marco Scandella early in the game, and then left the game. The remainder of the game was put in net by Lundqvist, and Raanta was put on injured reserve the next day. Raanta recovered faster than expected, returning to the Rangers lineup on December 28th, despite being expected to be out 2–3 weeks. The Rangers recalled Magnus Hellberg to serve as Lundqvist's back-up during Raanta's absence. Raanta made 25 appearances in the 2015–16 season, started 18 games, and ended with an 11–6–2 record. Along with one shutout, Raanta had a 2.24 GAA and a.919 Save Perpetration. Raanta reached an agreement with the New York Rangers on a two-year contract extension on May 2, 2016, at the end of the season.

Anthony DeAngelo and the Arizona Coyotes were traded by the Rangers and Derek Stepan to the Arizona Coyotes on June 23, 2017 as the 7th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft (which also became Lias Andersson).

Raanta's first season with the club set a 21–17–6 record in 41 appearances. However, the Coyotes did not qualify for the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. On April 6, 2018, the Coyotes re-signed Raanta to a three-year, $12.75 million deal extension worth $4.25 million per year.

Raanta was released as a free agent after four seasons with the Coyotes team, but was signed to a two-year, $4 million deal with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 28, 2021.

Raanta's first game with the team, winning 2–1 against his former team, the Arizona Coyotes, on October 31. With Frederik Andersen winning the first 7 games of the season, he helped the team go 8–0–0. This is the first time in his career that he has played for a team that has gone undefeated.

Raanta defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5–3 on April 7th to help the team secure a playoff spot.

Raanta's first round game against the Boston Bruins was called off on May 5th, 2022. In game one, he won 5–1, his first-career playoff victory. After colliding with Boston Bruins forward David Pastrk early in the first period, Raanta left the game in game two on May 4, 2022. Pyotr Kochetkov, the backup goalie, made it a 5–2 win over the Canes 2–0. Raanta got off to a slow start in game four, losing 5–2. Raanta assisted the team in the first round, winning 3–2 by game seven.

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