Frederik Andersen is expected to be out 8-12 weeks for the Carolina Hurricanes because of a knee injury that will require surgery.
The 35-year-old goalie, who will have surgery Friday, has not played since Oct. 26, when he made 18 saves in a 4-1 win against the Seattle Kraken. He had been sidelined since then with a lower-body injury, missing the past 11 games.
"When he gets back to skating, then we'll kind of go from there, but that’s months away," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said Thursday. "I haven't spoken to him since this announcement, but I think he's what you’d think … he's not happy about it. But he's also optimistic. He wants to come back and be healthy and show what he can do."
Andersen is 3-1-0 with a 1.46 goals-against average and .941 save percentage in four games this season and had been alternating starts with Pyotr Kochetkov at the time of the injury. Kochetkov (10-2-0, 2.30 GAA, .907 save percentage) has started nine of the 11 games since, with Spencer Martin (1-1-0, 2.80 GAA, .891 save percentage) starting the other two.
Martin is expected to start for the Hurricanes (14-4-0) at the New Jersey Devils on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, MSGSN). Kochetkov made 18 saves in a 4-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.
Martin played six games with the Hurricanes last season after he was claimed off waivers from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 24.
"Martin came in last year under the same circumstances and did a good job and this time around, he'll be relied on even more," Brind'Amour said. "He's going to have to play even more than he did last year. I think everything we've seen out of him, there's no reason to think anything other than he's going to be the same."
Andersen missed 50 games last season after being diagnosed with a blood clotting issue. He was 13-2-0 with a 1.84 GAA, .932 save percentage and three shutouts in 16 games and 6-4 with a 2.62 GAA and .895 save percentage in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
He is 298-128-52 with a 2.55 GAA, .916 save percentage and 27 shutouts in 499 regular-season games (485 starts) for the Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks.
NHL.com senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report
