Kochetkov Locked In Through 2028-29; Hurricanes' Goalie Tandem Carries Dynasty Payroll

The Carolina Hurricanes announced Friday that they have signed netminder Pyotr Kochetkov to a two-year extension running through the 2028-29 season at $3.95 million annually, anchoring their goalie depth chart into the era beyond their 2025-26 Stanley Cup triumph. The deal keeps Kochetkov from hitting unrestricted free agency after this season and pairs him with Brandon Bussi on a combined payroll under $6 million per year through the extension window—a structural win for general manager Eric Tulsky given the elite-level goaltending stability required to defend a title.

Kochetkov's path to this moment traces through injury and redemption. He missed the second half of last season following hip surgery but returned to dress for Games 4 through 6 of the Stanley Cup Final as Bussi's backup, appearing in high-leverage moments while managing a lingering hip condition. His full 2025-26 regular-season body of work—6-2-0, 2.33 goals-against average, .899 save percentage, one shutout—offered modest volume but clean efficiency metrics, exactly the floor a team needs in a tandem structure where one starter can absorb the bulk of net time.

On the roster front, Carolina trimmed its training camp group to 28 players on Friday afternoon, assigning seven skaters and two goaltenders to the AHL's Chicago Wolves while placing five additional defenders on waivers for reassignment. As of Saturday, Sept. 26, the Hurricanes carry 25 skaters and three goalies with a Sept. 29 deadline to cut to 23 before opening night against Florida. The blue-line math remains unresolved: Charles Alexis Legault, Mike Reilly, and Juuso Valimaki are still competing for the final defensive slots, with the waiver-placed Aleksi Heimosalmi and Pierre-Olivier Joseph also in the mix should injury or last-minute trades shuffle the deck. This roster flux matters for bench depth and injury-replacement upside but carries limited direct prop impact for opening week.

Kochetkov's extension and continued management of hip soreness will frame early-season Hurricanes goalie usage. Bussi earned the heavy workload during the championship run; the question is whether Kochetkov shoulders a full-time or managed rotation going forward. If Tulsky leans conservative with Kochetkov's minutes early to protect the hip, Bussi's shots-against and save volume will spike relative to season-long averages, raising his anytime-save and save-total props in the first month. The $3.95M AAV also signals front-office conviction that Kochetkov is functional for net time, not a pure insurance policy—expect him in net 30-40 times this season rather than 20. Conversely, if the hip remains an ongoing concern, Bussi becomes the defacto workhorse and Kochetkov's props become liability plays. Monitoring the official depth chart and Kochetkov's workload in the first three preseason games (today, Saturday, Sept. 26 is the final tuneup) will clarify which scenario is in play.