Big Deal Or Not A Big Deal?
Carolina Hurricanes’ Slow Start
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Oct. 5, 2026)
A year ago at this time, the Carolina Hurricanes won their first five regular-season games, including two in overtime.
About eight months later, they were the Stanley Cup champions.
In contrast, the 2026-27 Hurricanes opened their season with a 1-0 overtime loss to rival Florida and an ugly 5-2 defeat against Washington, with both games on home ice, before capturing a 3-2 overtime win at Philadelphia.
Returning goaltender Brandon Bussi gave up bad goals — Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour called them “freebies” — and took the losses against Florida and Washington, before backup Pyotr Kochetkov got the victory against the Flyers.
In the loss to Washington, Bussi made only 22 saves on 27 shots, as the Canes fell into a quick 3-0 hole in the first period. At least three of the Capitals’ five goals were on plays Bussi would love to have back.
Some Caniacs already are asking the question — “Big Deal Or Not A Big Deal?” — about the slow start for Bussi, who was among the team’s regular-season and playoff stars last season.
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For context, it’s important to remember that there are at least two extremely unusual aspects in Bussi’s background.
First, whereas the overwhelming majority of the Hurricanes’ players were either drafted by the franchise, acquired by trade, or picked up in free agency, Bussi joined the club as a waivers claim. That means he was available at the time to each of the other 31 National Hockey League teams for zero compensation back to his previous team.
Roughly a year ago, in October 2025, Florida had placed Bussi on waivers with the hope of sending him to the Panthers’ top minor-league club; that happens all the time in the NHL.
This time, though, the Hurricanes made a claim for Bussi, and of course he ended up rotating all season with Freddie Andersen on the team that went on to capture the Stanley Cup.
Unexpectedly, Bussi led the Canes last season with 39 regular-season starts and 31 regular-season victories. Then, famously, Bussi came on in relief of Andersen in the Stanley Cup championship series against Vegas, winning three straight starts against the Golden Knights, including a 3-0 shutout in the Cup-clinching Game Six in Sin City.
For the overwhelmingly majority of professional hockey players, if you don’t make it to The League by 27, it’s just not gonna happen.
For comparison, keep in mind that Canes star Sebastian Aho made his NHL debut at 19 years old, Andrei Svechnikov and team captain Jordan Staal made theirs at 18 years old, and the team’s current backup goaltender, Kochetkov, made his NHL debut at 22 years old.
According to most estimates, more than 80 percent of current NHL players made their debut in the league prior to their 23rd birthday, making Bussi and others like him clearly fit the hockey-specific definition of a very late bloomer.
Just four years ago, Bussi was completing his college hockey career as a star for Western Michigan University. For the next three seasons, he played in the Boston Bruins organization, but he played only in the minor leagues, mostly for the franchise’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.
In July of last year, Florida signed Bussi to a one-year, two-way contract, but when the Panthers tried to send him to the minors last October, the Canes made their claim.
Bussi’s 2026 calendar year has been filled with huge news even beyond the Stanley Cup.
Back in February, during the 2025-26 regular season, Bussi signed a three-year contract extension worth almost $2 million per year, through the end of the 2029 campaign. That’s actually still a pretty low financial number for a #1 goalie on an NHL roster, although it was a nice bump from the $775,000 he made last season.
In mid-July, about one month after his fiance was repeatedly shown on TV during the Stanley Cup finals, Bussi married her. That long-time girlfriend, Mary, was his college sweetheart going back to his Western Michigan days.
In mid-August, Bussi took his turn in the team’s months-long “Day With The Stanley Cup” rotation. He took it to his home state, New York, even sharing it with the fans who packed his childhood ice rink on Long Island. Local officials even declared a “Brandon Bussi Day.”
These things serve as part of the backdrop for Bussi’s rough start to the 2026-27 season.
Brind’Amour has repeatedly said how much he admires Bussi’s work ethic and level-headed demeanor under pressure, although the coach also recently offered Bussi some gentle public criticism for the bad goals — a.k.a. “freebies” — he gave up against Florida and Washington.
As with any other negative trend, it would become a “very big deal” if it persists, but a two-game sample size just isn’t enough to reach for the alarm bell.
As in previous years under Brind’Amour, both of the Hurricanes’ top goalies will get a lot of work as long as they’re healthy, and over time one or the other will earn the most starting assignments, just as Bussi ultimately did last year, as one of the team’s most pleasant surprises.
In the meantime, many Caniacs will continue to wonder whether Connor Hellebuyck — the long-time Winnipeg Jets star and 2026 Team USA gold medalist — or another veteran netminder might be acquired by the Canes later this season.
The odds of that happening, of course, will increase only if/when the team’s positional needs on the ice and another team’s trade demand in return line up just right.
Bussi’s play moving forward is connected to one of those “moving parts,” so it won’t be leaving the spotlight anytime soon.
