How Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen’s career shows unwillingness to bend, be broken

The Masterton Trophy, sort of like the Lady Byng, is one of those honors that exist only in the NHL and remains open to endless interpretation.

It’s not supposed to be a comeback player award, or a competition to see who suffered the most gruesome injury, although the NHL could probably use both of those honors as well. The Masterton was created by the Professional Hockey Writers Association six decades ago to salute a very specific kind of player, recognizing perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

And, often, that does mean a player who has recovered from some career-threatening injury or illness and not just players who have overcome great odds or shown great persistence. Sometimes it is hard to drive a wedge between the two. In the case of Frederik Andersen, nominated for the Masterton by the Carolina chapter of the PHWA and, on Thursday, named one of three finalists for the award, it certainly includes both.

The proximate cause of Andersen’s qualification for the Masterton is the remarkable story of this season, when he spent three months on heavy doses of blood thinners after a life-threatening clot was found in one of his lungs, unable to skate or practice, only to return before the end of the regular season at the absolute top of his game, without missing a beat — and has carried that into the playoffs, starting all five games so far as the Hurricanes await the New York Rangers in the second round.

“I’m just fortunate for the help I’ve gotten,” Andersen said. “Everyone goes through some adversity. I’m proud of the way I’ve handled it, but again, just really thankful for the help and opportunity I’ve gotten to come back.”

But there’s an unwillingness to bend, to be broken, in that life-altering winter that runs like a thread through his career, from his native Denmark to Sweden to the NHL. He didn’t sign with the Hurricanes after they drafted him in 2010 and re-entered the draft seeking a better opportunity elsewhere. (At the time, the Hurricanes had Cam Ward and Justin Peters, which looked like a goalie logjam until it wasn’t.)

Over the course of his NHL career, he has confounded coaches and fans alike by his unwillingness to return from an injury until he truly knows he is ready, but he has never actually been wrong. And he was scapegoated for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ annual postseason flubs only to (return from injury and) take the Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference final at first asking.

Andersen still bears the scars of his Toronto experience in some ways. Facing television cameras, or up on a dais in front of a microphone as he was Thursday, he tends to be careful and guarded in his responses. But at his locker, on a quiet day, he is an insightful conversationalist with the perspective of someone who has lived full lives on two continents and the full conviction of his beliefs.

He gave a glimpse of that Thursday when asked if he noticed Pyotr Kochetkov trying to beat him during the skating drills at the end of practice: “He’s well rested right now,” Andersen said, to laughter, both a joke and a subtle nod to all the questions during the postseason about starting more than two consecutive games for the first time all season.

There’s very little that Andersen does that isn’t carefully and thoughtfully considered, and the scope of his career, from Anaheim to Toronto to re-signing with Carolina last summer, reflected that even before this season’s scare, a health issue that went far beyond hockey.

“What he had to go through this year has been tough,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “More just the uncertainty of what he had and not knowing would he even play again. That had to creep into his mind. And then to come back the way he has, it’s been a great story all around and hopefully it’s got an even better ending.”

Andersen is the fourth Hurricanes player to be a Masterton finalist, and each of his predecessors had a solid case to make. Ron Francis was a finalist in 2002 at age 39, not only for his longevity but for leading the Hurricanes to the Southeast Division title (and beyond, although voters didn’t know that when they submitted their ballots).

In 2017, voters appreciated Derek Ryan’s climb from undrafted minor-leaguer and European vagabond to NHL regular, a true story of perseverance. Jordan Staal was a finalist a year later after he played the first four months of the season knowing his wife Heather was pregnant with a daughter with what was likely to be a terminal birth defect, and took only three games of personal leave after the baby was stillborn.

And now Andersen, whose hockey future hung in the balance all winter and has returned at his best in the spring. There’s a story of perseverance and dedication in his season that’s worthy of this recognition. But it’s hardly a one-season thing.

Never miss a Luke DeCock column. Sign up at tinyurl.com/lukeslatest to have them delivered directly to your email inbox as soon as they post.

Luke DeCock’s Latest: Never miss a column on the Canes, ACC or other Triangle sports