Antti Raanta will not return to the NHL for the 2024-25 season.
The 35-year-old goalie played 11 seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Arizona Coyotes and Carolina Hurricanes. He was 139-80-29 with a 2.48 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and 20 shutouts in 277 regular-season games (251 starts) and 9-9 with a 2.48 GAA, .911 save percentage and one shutout in 24 Stanley Cup Playoff games (19 starts).
“At the end of the season and in the summer, I thought about all sorts of things, but as the summer progressed and my body felt good, Europe started to attract me more,” Raanta told Finnish news outlet Ilta-Sanomat on Saturday.
Raanta last played an NHL game when he made nine saves in relief of Pyotr Kochetkov in Carolina's 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Feb. 8, before leaving with a lower-body injury. He played eight games for Chicago in the American Hockey League and was 2-2-4 with a 3.54 GAA and .873 save percentage.
Raanta teamed with Frederik Andersen for the Hurricanes to win the 2022 William M. Jennings Trophy, presented annually to the goalies who play a minimum of 25 games for the team allowing the fewest goals (202) during the regular season, combining to win the award for the first time in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history. Raanta went 15-5-4 with a 2.45 GAA, .912 save percentage and two shutouts and was Carolina's starting goalie for all but one playoff game after Andersen was injured. He finished the postseason 6-5 with a 2.26 GAA and .922 save percentage in 13 starts.
