Potential Canucks goalie option turns his back on NHL career

Although the Vancouver Canucks reportedly expressed interest in signing him to a professional tryout offer this offseason, former Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta has revealed that he would like to continue his playing career in Europe, not North America, signaling the end of his time in the NHL.

"At the end of the season and in the summer I thought about all kinds of things, but as the summer progressed and felt good in my body, Europe has started to attract more," Raanta told Ilta-Sanomat's Sami Hoffren in a recent interview, loosely translated from Finnish to English.

Raanta, 35, endured a very challenging 2023-24 season, struggling at both the NHL and AHL levels and being placed on and passing through waivers. The veteran Finn was just 12-7-2 through 24 games with the Hurricanes last season, owning a 2.99 GAA and .872 save percentage for a Carolina team aspiring to compete for a Stanley Cup.

Raanta's numbers were just as bad in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves, as he mustered a 2-2-4 record, a 3.54 GAA, and a .873 save percentage. From the surface, it just looked like Raanta did not have the juice or the willpower for the NHL anymore, and the 35-year-old admitted as much to Hoffren.

"Europe could be more meaningful places for my family and myself, but one cannot say that I returned to Europe to cool down," Raanta said. "I spent 11 years in the NHL. Now was a good time to return to Europe with my family.

"There is no longer such a fire that I would go there with claws and teeth to fight for the place."

As for the Canucks? They were interested in Raanta, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Raanta ultimately stuck to his guns and relayed the confidence in his decision.

"There was a second- or third-goalie role and possibly playing in the AHL," Raanta explained. "I knocked it out right away and announced that I was a bit like my decision to not go there anymore. A few hours ago I was suddenly with (Canucks goaltending coach) Marko Torenius and the GM on the Zoom call. It would have been more of a probationary tune-up."

The Canucks likely sought Raanta's services on a PTO basis, rather than an actual contract, in the wake of the Thatcher Demko injury and Arturs Silovs being banged up.