The Carolina Hurricanes signed goaltender Zach Sawchenko to a one-year, two-way contract, as per their general manager Eric Tulsky’s announcement on Saturday, July 4.

The 28-year-old is expected to strengthen the Hurricanes’ goalie depth after the departure of Frederik Andersen to the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League (NHL) Free Agency earlier this month.

He will partner up with fellow goaltenders Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov, who performed quite exceptionally as backups to Andersen in the 2025-26 season.

In the Canes' announcement shared by NHL.com about Sawchenko’s contract, Tulsky revealed that the Canadian will earn $850,000 if he plays in the NHL for the Canes or $150,000 for competing in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Chicago Wolves.

His deal with the reigning Stanley Cup champions has a guaranteed $190,000 pay for the upcoming 2026-27 season.

Notably, Sawchenko has played only seven games in his NHL career during the 2021-22 season with the San Jose Sharks, debuting against the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 2, 2022. He ended up with a 1-2-1 record in the league, including a .905 save percentage and a 3.35 goals-against average.

Sawchenko has been a regular in the AHL since becoming a part of it for the first time in the 2019-20 season with the San Jose Barracuda. He has taken the ice in 135 games in the league with a 56-57-15 record for a .895 save percentage, 3.08 goals-against average.

Apart from San Jose, he has been associated with three other teams in the AHL, namely the Chicago Wolves, Abbotsford Canucks, and Cleveland Monsters.

The Wolves are the top AHL affiliate of the Hurricanes, whom Sawchenko represented during the 2022-23 season, and he is expected to do the same in the upcoming 2026-27 season.

While playing for them over three years ago, he had a 17-18-3 record for a .895 save percentage, 3.10 goals-against average, and one shutout.

During the 2025-26 season, Sawchenko competed in 29 games for the Monsters in the AHL, to end up with a 14-10-3 record for a .880 save percentage and a 3.05 goals-against average.

What was the career trajectory of Zach Sawchenko before turning professional?

Zach Sawchenko turned professional when he represented the San Jose Barracuda in the AHL seven years ago in the 2019-20 season. But prior to that, he was a part of the University of Alberta team for two seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19 in the USports league.

Sawchenko played 34 games for them to register a formidable 28-4-1 record for a 1.74 goals-against average and five shutouts with a save percentage in excess of .900.

Before that, the Canadian played in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for the Moose Jaw Warriors for four seasons from 2013-14 to 2016-17. He took the ice for them in 177 games for an 88-65-16 record with a .908 save percentage, 3.11 goals-against average, and nine shutouts.

Moreover, Sawchenko also joined the Orlando Solar Bears in the ECHL, a minor professional ice hockey league, in the 2019-20 season shortly after becoming a part of San Jose in the AHL. While the 28-year-old didn’t play any games for Orlando in the ECHL, he did so after leaving them and arriving at the Allen Americans in the same season.

He had a 13-4-3 record in 20 games with Allen across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, including a .928 save percentage, 2.42 goals-against average, and two shutouts.

Will Zach Sawchenko provide the goalie depth to the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2026-27 NHL season? Tell us your views in the comments.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Yash Kotak