The Carolina Hurricanes quietly made a low-stakes bet on Saturday, signing goaltender Zach Sawchenko to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2026-27 season. It’s the kind of deal that barely registers on the transaction wire — league minimum salary, no bonuses, nothing flashy. But there’s a reason this one is worth a second look.
Sawchenko, 28, spent the last two seasons in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. His regular-season numbers last year were not pretty. A .880 save percentage and 3.05 goals-against average across 29 games. That .880 mark was the second-worst of his AHL career, only better than his .877 with the San Jose Barracuda a few years back.
But here’s the thing — the playoffs were a completely different story.
When Cleveland needed a goalie in the postseason, Sawchenko became the guy. He started most of the games and finished with a 5-3-0 record, a .914 save percentage, and one shutout in eight appearances. The Monsters pushed all the way to the North Division Finals before the eventual Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies bounced them. That kind of run, even in the AHL, sticks with front offices.
A long road to get here
Sawchenko went undrafted out of the WHL, which means pretty much every step of his pro career has been a fight. He signed a two-year entry-level deal with San Jose back in 2020 and managed seven NHL games for the Sharks during the 2021-22 season. Three starts, four relief appearances — a 1-2-1 record with a .901 save percentage and 3.35 goals-against average. Not great, but it’s NHL experience, and for a third-string goalie, that’s not nothing.
The Sharks didn’t tender him a contract after that season, so Sawchenko landed back with the Hurricanes organization in 2022. That year he started a career-high 41 games for the Chicago Wolves and posted a .895 save percentage. Then it was on to Vancouver’s system for a season, and then two years in Columbus.
Now he’s back in Carolina, and the path to playing time is crowded but clear.
Where he fits in the depth chart
Sawchenko is expected to enter training camp as the third goaltender on the depth chart, behind Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov. That’s the working assumption anyway. Restricted free agent Cayden Primeau remains unsigned, but the Hurricanes still own his rights. And Ruslan Khazheyev is still in the system after splitting last season between the ECHL and 20 AHL starts as a rookie in 2024-25.
The $850,000 salary is the NHL minimum, with an AHL salary of $150,000 and a guarantee of $190,000. The deal has no signing bonuses, no performance bonuses, no trade protection, nothing like that. Sawchenko will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. This is basically a one-year audition.
He’s 28 now, which is a weird age for a goalie. Still young enough to get better, but old enough that potential starts to sound like a four-letter word. If he can carry that playoff momentum into camp, maybe he forces the Hurricanes into a harder decision than anyone expects.
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