Hurricanes GM: 'Average or above' goaltending can end playoff drought

The Carolina Hurricanes own the NHL's longest active playoff drought at nine years, and for many of those seasons, goaltending was at the root of their issues.

For his part, general manager Don Waddell believes some improvement between the pipes would be enough to finally crack the postseason.

"I think the biggest thing, and I hate to put on too much pressure, but if our goaltending can be average or above I think that’ll give us a really good chance of making the playoffs," Waddell said in a Q&A with The Athletic's Sara Civian.

The Hurricanes ranked last overall with an .893 save percentage last season despite allowing the fewest shots in the entire league. They haven't ranked better than 26th in save percentage since 2013-14.

Scott Darling was acquired prior to last season after three strong campaigns as Corey Crawford's backup in Chicago, but struggled to the tune of an .888 save percentage and a 3.18 goals-against average.

Coincidentally, longtime Hurricanes netminder Cam Ward left Carolina as a free agent this summer, inking a one-year deal with the Blackhawks to serve as Crawford's No. 2.

That prompted Waddell to survey the goaltending market, where he had an interesting discussion with free-agent netminder Petr Mrazek.

"The first day we could talk to free agents I called him (Mrazek) and we talked for about half an hour. He said 'Don, I know things didn’t go well for me last year. I want a chance to prove to be a number-one guy. I want just a one-year contract, $1.5 million,'" Waddell recalled. "He could’ve been like the rest of those guys asking for two-to-three million for two or three years, but he was more worried about the opportunity to prove himself than he was the money."

Mrazek is coming off a disappointing campaign in which he was non-tendered by the Flyers after posting a .902 save percentage and a 3.03 goals-against average in 39 games split between Philadelphia and Detroit.

He isn't a stranger to NHL success, though. In the first 94 games of his career Mrazek looked like one the league's up-and-coming young goaltenders, recording a .920 save percentage, a 2.29 goals-against average, and nine shutouts with the Red Wings. The 26-year-old hasn't been able to regain that form since, but will get an extended chance to grab a hold of the No. 1 job in Carolina with Darling out for two weeks to begin the season.

Mrazek's first test will come Thursday night at home against the New York Islanders as the Hurricanes begin their quest to end their postseason drought.