Hurricanes claim goaltender Brandon Bussi off waivers from Panthers

The Carolina Hurricanes have added some goaltending depth to their pipeline, claiming Brandon Bussi off waivers from the Florida Panthers.

The team additionally placed goaltender Cayden Primeau on waivers with hopes of sending him to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

The Panthers had signed Bussi to a one-year contract worth $775,000 in the NHL and $400,000 in the AHL earlier this summer. The 27-year-old Bussi appeared in 33 games with the Boston Bruins’ AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, in 2024-25. He posted a 15-14-4 record, a .907 save percentage, and a 2.77 goals against average. He was tied for third in the AHL with five shutouts while sharing the net with Michael DiPietro, who was also placed on waivers on Sunday.

In four AHL seasons, the Sound Beach, N.Y., native has a .915 SV% and 2.61 GAA in 111 career regular-season appearances with the Bruins. Bussi spent three seasons playing college hockey with Western Michigan University between 2019-20 and 2021-22. In 77 games, he posted a .910 SV% and 2.61 GAA before signing with the Bruins as an undrafted free agent in 2022.

Primeau has 55 NHL games to his credit, all with the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs traded Primeau to Carolina during the offseason with the hopes of him landing as the Wolves’ No. 1 goaltender. If he goes unclaimed, that’s exactly what could still happen. Primeau was Montreal’s backup goalie to start 2024-25, but struggled to generate consistent results. He went 21-2-3 with Laval, establishing himself as one of the best goaltenders in the league to close out the 2024-25 AHL season.

Beyond NHL goaltenders Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, the Hurricanes also have Ruslan Khazyeyev, Amir Miftakhov and Nikita Quapp in North America.

Carolina will open their season on Oct. 9 against the New Jersey Devils before hosting the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. The club will then embark on a six-game road trip before returning home for an Oct. 28 meeting against Vegas.