Pyotr Kochetkov has opened the season with a simple line that keeps getting harder to ignore: two goals or fewer allowed in each of his first four starts. That kind of steadiness has helped push the Hurricanes into the early conversation in the Super 16 Power Rankings, where goaltending is already separating teams from the pack.
The search for that kind of stability is why this week’s ranking is drawing attention now. In Carolina, Brandon Bussi has also done enough to keep the team in games, with the Hurricanes earning points in three of his four starts, and together the two goalies have given the club a start that looks sustainable rather than lucky.
Kochetkov’s line matters because it is happening at a moment when Carolina needs certainty in net. Frederik Andersen, who remains part of the broader conversation around the position, is not expected back until at least December after an offseason injury. That leaves the Hurricanes leaning heavily on Kochetkov, and early on he has looked ready to take the job and hold it.
Elsewhere in the rankings, the same position is driving results in different ways. The Golden Knights have six wins in eight games behind Carter Hart and Adin Hill, with Hart at 3-2-0, a 2.41 goals-against average and a.906 save percentage, and Hill at 3-0-0 with a 2.27 goals-against average and a.901 save percentage. Ryan Craig said both would play early, and that is exactly how the season has unfolded.
The Oilers, meanwhile, are still trying to turn early survival into trust. Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi each had rough debuts, giving up six and seven goals respectively, before settling in enough to give Edmonton solid goaltending. But the warning remains the same: consistency has not been proven yet, and that matters because Levi was brought in from Rochester in the American Hockey League after the Oilers acquired him from the Buffalo Sabres on July 1, while Jarry was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins last season after losing his starting job to Connor Ingram because of inconsistent play.
That is why the goaltending race is already shaping the early season for more than one contender. Kochetkov has the cleanest case so far, and if he keeps this up while Andersen stays out until at least December, Carolina may have found the one thing that can keep its season on track before the rest of the standings settle.
