Antti Raanta

Antti Raanta (born May 12, 1989) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

Professional

In 2013, Raanta won the Finnish championship with Ässät and was awarded both the Lasse Oksanen Trophy for the SM-liiga's best player of regular season, as well as the Jari Kurri Trophy for the best player of the playoffs, posting a .955 save percentage.

On June 3, 2013, Raanta signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was recalled by the Blackhawks from the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Rockford IceHogs on November 17, 2013, after Chicago's backup goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, suffered an injury in a loss against the Nashville Predators the previous night, November 16. Raanta made his NHL debut against the Colorado Avalanche on November 19, 2013, stopping 14 of 16 shots in relief of starter Corey Crawford. On December 30, 2013, Raanta earned his first career shutout, beating the Los Angeles Kings at home at the United Center. He stopped all 26 shots he faced, and improved to 10–1–3 on the season. Raanta was named Rookie of the Month (an honour shared with Los Angeles' goaltender Martin Jones) for December 2013, going 8–1–3 with one shutout. On January 12, 2014, Raanta helped end his team's losing; the Blackhawks had previously lost three-straight games, with Crawford in goal for all three losses. Raanta played against the Edmonton Oilers as Chicago prevailed 5–3.

On June 27, 2014, the Blackhawks signed Raanta to a two-year contract extension.

In the 2014–15 season, on November 15, 2014, the Blackhawks announced that Raanta had been assigned to the Rockford IceHogs to make room for rookie goaltender Scott Darling. On December 17, 2014, Raanta was called up from the IceHogs and placed on the Blackhawks' roster, replacing goaltender Darling, who was himself demoted back to Rockford. However, on February 22, 2015, the Blackhawks again reassigned Raanta to the IceHogs after a 6–2 loss against the Boston Bruins, and called up Darling to take his place. Raanta was recalled on April 12, 2015, but did not dress in any more games. Raanta was given a day with the Stanley Cup, and a Stanley Cup Ring. However, he was not included on the Stanley Cup for not dressing in the playoffs, for playing in the minors after the trading deadline.

Unable to earn back the backup role on the Blackhawks at seasons end, on June 27, 2015, Raanta was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Ryan Haggerty.

Raanta would battle Magnus Hellberg for the backup role behind Henrik Lundqvist, Raanta eventually won the battle as Hellberg was sent to the American Hockey League (AHL). Raanta was put in net for the Rangers' December 17 game against the Minnesota Wild (Lundqvist was to start the following day against the Winnipeg Jets). However, near the end of the 1st period, Raanta took a slapshot to the head from Wild defenseman Marco Scandella, and left the game. Lundqvist was put in net the remainder of the game, and the next day Raanta was put on injured reserve. Originally expected to be out 2–3 weeks, Raanta recovered faster than originally expected, returning to the Rangers lineup on December 28. During Raanta's absence, the Rangers called up Magnus Hellberg to serve as Lundqvist's backup. Raanta made 25 appearances in the 2015–16 season, started 18 games, and finished with a 11-6-2 record. Raanta had a 2.24 GAA and a .919 Save Percentage along with one Shutout. At the end of the season, Raanta agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension with the New York Rangers on May 2, 2016.

Regular season and playoffs

International