Antti Raanta

BIOGRAPHY

Antti Raanta was born May 12, 1989, in Rauma, Finland. He is a goaltender in the NHL.

On 3 June 2013, Raanta signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was recalled by the Blackhawks from the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Rockford IceHogs on 17 November 2013, after Chicago's backup goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, suffered an injury in a loss against the Nashville Predators the previous night, 16 November. Raanta made his NHL debut against the Colorado Avalanche on 19 November 2013, stopping 14 of 16 shots in relief of starter Corey Crawford. On 30 December 2013, Raanta earned his first career shutout, beating the Los Angeles Kings at home at the United Center. He stopped all 26 shots he faced and improved to 10–1–3 on the season. Raanta was named Rookie of the Month (an honour shared with Los Angeles' goaltender Martin Jones) for December 2013, going 8–1–3 with one shutout. On 12 January 2014, Raanta helped end his team's losing streak; the Blackhawks had previously lost three-straight games, with Crawford in goal for all three losses. Raanta played against the Edmonton Oilers as Chicago prevailed 5–3.

On 23 June 2017, he was traded by the Rangers along with Derek Stepan to the Arizona Coyotes for Anthony DeAngelo and the 7th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft (which became Lias Andersson).

In his first season with the club, Raanta posted a 21–17–6 record in 41 appearances. However, the Coyotes failed to qualify for the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. On 6 April 2018, the Coyotes re-signed Raanta to a three-year, $12.75 million contract extension worth $4.25 million annually.

After four seasons within the Coyotes organization, largely plagued with injury, Raanta left as a free agent and was signed to a two-year, $4 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on 28 July 2021.

On 31 October 2021, Raanta started his first game with the team, winning 2–1 against his former team the Arizona Coyotes. He helped the team go 8–0–0, with Frederik Andersen winning the first seven games of the season. This was the first time in his career that he was playing a team that went undefeated. On 7 April 2022, Raanta won a 5–3 game against the Buffalo Sabres to help the team clinch a playoff spot. On 28 April, after a 6–3 win against the New Jersey Devils, Raanta along with Andersen won the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the least goals against average. On 2 May, Raanta started the first-round game against the Boston Bruins due to starter goaltender Andersen being injured. He won 5–1 in game one making it his first career playoff win. On 4 May, Raanta exited the game in game two after colliding with the Bruins forward David Pastrňák early in the first period. Backup goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov played the rest of that game and made it a 5–2 win making the Canes 2–0. In game four, Raanta started again losing 5–2. In game seven, Raanta helped the team the win the first round in a 3–2 win.