In his first season in Charlotte, MacIntyre set franchise records for games played (51), minutes played (2,936) and saves (1,474), all of which ranked him in the top six in the AHL. The 31-year-old was a formidable backstop, often putting his team in a place to win, but the overall inexperience of the club caught up to them and the Checkers found themselves near the bottom of the standings.
MacIntyre, always willing to offer up his thoughts, professed his fondness for the city at the conclusion of last season, but was clear with his plan moving forward.
“I love the city, I love the organization and I’d love to be back, but if we have one of the youngest teams again, then no, I’m not interested,” MacIntyre said during his exit interview in late April.
Fast forward one month and MacIntyre has heard enough to buy in to another year with the organization.
“[Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron Francis] said he wants to sign some older guys and there’s going to be a new coach and they want to win here,” said MacIntyre following the announcement of his new deal. “That’s all I needed to hear.
Prior to today’s news, MacIntyre had a few choices to weigh: re-sign with Carolina, sign in Europe or look for deal with another NHL team. Of the two alternate options, one was coming close to fruition.
“Really the only thing that I’ve been doing as far as the whole process has been talking to teams in Europe, which was getting pretty serious,” said MacIntyre. “Europe was a definite backup plan. You’re rolling the dice when you go to a new AHL team. I’ve been in so many different situations and some of them are great and some of them are a tough fit, especially for a goaltender. At this stage in my career, I wasn’t 100 percent keen on rolling the dice and waiting until July 1 and missing these European options. If Charlotte said no, there was a good chance I was going to Europe.”
While not unheard of, it is slightly unusual for a team to sign a player this early in the free agency process, but that seemed to be the plan all along for MacIntyre.
“I’ve been strung along a lot, until the end of June,” said MacIntyre. “It happened last offseason in Toronto where I really thought I was going back and then a couple of days before the deadline it was like, ‘Nope, we’re not signing you.’ But Ron was true to his word. Near the end of the season he told my agent (I would hear by) the end of May and he was true to his word and I appreciate that. I trust that he is going to put a winning team on the ice in Charlotte.”
After a season with a historically surprising lack of movement at the goalie position for Carolina, MacIntyre sees the netminder situation for the Hurricanes as another enticing reason to rejoin.
“The two goalies up top are on the last year of their NHL deals, so that’s another part of it as well,” said MacIntyre. “Whenever goalies are on the last year of their deal, there’s always the chance for opportunity. I’m very motivated to show them what I can do and I’d love to get a chance up there.”
MacIntyre has found himself all across the world throughout his 12-year pro career, playing with 13 different teams in the NHL, AHL, ECHL and KHL. But with a wife and two young daughters, he has found solace in being able to stick in one place.
“We’ve been in some really good cities and this is probably our favorite city that we’ve been to,” he said. “It’s a great situation for my wife and my daughters and they really love it there.
“It’s not fun going to a new city and putting your daughter through a new school. I’m at that phase in my career where it definitely helps to stay in the same city. We wanted to come back to Charlotte. We kind of had that in our minds, so if they wanted us back, our thinking was that we would come back.”
There are still many moves yet to be made over the summer to fill out the Checkers’ roster, but if Francis and the rest of the organization’s commitment to righting the ship is enough to convince MacIntyre, it could be an exciting ride.
“All I care about is that they weren’t happy with how it went down last year,” said MacIntyre. “They want to have a winner.”
