Frederik Andersen

Frederik Andersen (born 2 October 1989) is a Danish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Representing Denmark, Andersen competed in the 2010 IIHF World Championship. He was selected by the Hurricanes in the seventh round, 187th overall, of the 2010 NHL entry draft. Unable to come to terms with the Hurricanes, Andersen later re-entered the draft and was selected in the third round of the 2012 NHL entry draft, 87th overall. Before joining the Ducks, Andersen played in the Superisligaen and the Elitserien, the top leagues in Denmark and Sweden, respectively. Andersen is the first Danish-born goaltender to play in the NHL.

From 2009 to 2011, Andersen played for the Frederikshavn White Hawks of the Superisligaen, Denmark's top professional ice hockey league. On 13 March 2010, while playing for the White Hawks, Andersen scored an empty net goal in the fourth quarterfinal match against Rødovre Mighty Bulls. He nearly scored two nights before in the third match, but missed.

Andersen played for one season (2011–12) with Frölunda HC of the Elitserien, the highest-level professional league in Sweden. He set an Elitserien regular-season club record with eight shutouts in 2011–12, surpassing Henrik Lundqvist's seven shutouts from the 2003–04 season. In addition to his shutouts, Andersen also led the Elitserien in goals against average (GAA) and save percentage and received a nomination for the Elitserien Rookie of the Year award.

On 20 October 2013, shortly into the 2013–14 season, Andersen made his NHL debut for the Anaheim Ducks, replacing starting goaltender Jonas Hiller to start the second period. Taking over with a 3–1 Ducks deficit, he logged two shutout periods, earning him his first NHL win, a 6–3 victory over the Dallas Stars. With his debut, Andersen became the first Danish-born goaltender in NHL history. Following the trade of then-backup goaltender Viktor Fasth to the Edmonton Oilers on 4 March 2014, Andersen became the team's new full-time backup goaltender to Hiller after spending the majority of the season playing for Anaheim's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals.

On 16 April 2014, Andersen won his Stanley Cup playoff debut as Anaheim defeated the Dallas Stars 4–3 in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals. Andersen made 32 saves, giving up three goals. He split time with both Jonas Hiller and John Gibson during the Ducks' run in the 2014 playoffs, which ultimately ended in the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Kings, the eventual Stanley Cup champions.

The following year, in 2014–15, with Hiller departed via free agency to the Calgary Flames, Andersen and Gibson became the Ducks' goaltending duo. As the season progressed, however, Andersen assumed the starter's role through both his impressive goaltending play and injuries to Gibson that kept the latter out of the lineup. After recording his 30th win of the season on 3 March 2015, Andersen tied an NHL record as the fastest goaltender in history to reach 50 career wins. He reached the milestone in just 68 career games, tying the record set by the Montreal Canadiens' Bill Durnan on 16 December 1944. In the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs, Andersen led the Ducks to the Western Conference finals with his strong play - the Ducks only lost one game in the first two rounds. After taking a 3–2 series lead, the Ducks lost the final two games of the series, including game 7 on home ice. This marked the third straight season the Ducks had lost a series in Game 7 at home after leading the series three games to two. Andersen allowed four or more goals in each of the final four games of the series – the Ducks lost three of those four games and allowed 19 goals over that span.

On 20 June 2016, Andersen was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 30th overall pick (previously acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Phil Kessel trade) in the 2016 NHL entry draft (used to select Sam Steel) and a second-round pick in the 2017 NHL entry draft (middle of Toronto, San Jose, or Ottawa picks – used to select Maxime Comtois). On the same day, the Leafs and Frederik Andersen agreed to terms on a five-year contract extension. After a slow start with the Leafs, Andersen found his game; he went 33–16–14 on the season with a 2.67 GAA, a .918 save percentage, and four shutouts, leading the Leafs to a playoff berth for the first time since the 2012–13 NHL season.