After losing Justin Peters to Washington, the Carolina Hurricanes moved quickly on a new goaltender.
Drew MacIntyre, a 31-year-old most recently of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, signed a one-year, two-way contract on Monday, the first day of the unrestricted free agent period. With Cam Ward and Anton Khudobin expected to form the starting tandem in Carolina, MacIntyre will likely assume a role similar to what Peters filled in the last two seasons – an established No. 1 at the AHL level capable of playing NHL games when needed.
A two-time AHL All-Star with 329 games under his belt, MacIntyre went 29-15-3 with a 2.53 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and one shutout for the Marlies last season, ranking second among all league goaltenders in victories. In three career games against the Checkers, all of which were played last season, he went 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .942 save percentage.
MacIntyre’s .914 save percentage in last season’s Calder Cup Playoffs, in which his Marlies fell to the eventual Calder Cup Champion Texas Stars in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, was second among AHL goalies.
A 6-foot-1, 190-pound native of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, MacIntrye has played six NHL games with Vancouver, Buffalo and Toronto. He received his first NHL start with the Maple Leafs on April 10 of last season.
With MacIntyre seemingly set for Charlotte, the other half of the team’s goaltending tandem could be filled by Daniel Altshuller, a rookie who the Hurricanes selected in the third round (69th overall) of the 2012 draft. Should Altshuller instead start at the ECHL level to get more playing time, the organization could still be in the market for another goaltender as John Muse (unrestricted free agent) and Mike Murphy (signed in Austria) are not in the fold for the time being.
