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.
Playing career
Europe
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.[2]
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.[5] With 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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]
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.[10][11] 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.
During the 2017–18 season, Andersen bested his career-high in wins on 28 March 2018, with his 36th win of the season in a game against the Florida Panthers.[12] On the same day, he helped the Leafs set a new franchise record of 27 wins on home ice after beating the Panthers 4–3.[12] In the following game on 30 March 2018, against the New York Islanders, Andersen recorded his 37th win of the season, tying the single-season record for most wins by a Leafs goalie.[13] On 7 April 2018, the last game of the Leafs' regular season, Andersen passed the Leafs all-time wins record with a 4–2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.[14] Andersen helped the Leafs qualify for the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they would fall to the Boston Bruins in seven games.[15]
He recorded a 36–16–7 record during the 2018–19 NHL season, helping the Maple Leafs advance to their third consecutive playoff berth, but they were once again defeated in the first round by the Boston Bruins in seven games. On 14 December 2019, Andersen earned his 200th win in his 344th game against the Edmonton Oilers.[16]
Carolina Hurricanes
Andersen takes a break while practicing with the Hurricanes
After his five-year tenure with the Maple Leafs, Andersen left the club as a free agent. On 28 July 2021, he signed a two-year, $9 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes.[17] On 3 November, after a 6–3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks, Andersen became the first goaltender in franchise history to go 8–0–0 to start a season with a new team.[18]
On 12 January 2022, Andersen was named to play in the 2022 NHL All-Star Game along with Sebastian Aho.[19] On 5 February, Andersen who played the first half of the All-Star Game in both games against the Atlantic and Pacific, helped the Metropolitan Division win the contest.[20] On 16 April, Andersen suffered an injury that involved him getting helped off the ice in the last few minutes of the game. The team ended up losing 7–4 to the Colorado Avalanche.[21] He was not able to start games in the playoffs, with Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov taking the net. Andersen and Ranta received the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders of the team that allowed the fewest goals during the regular season.[22]
On 6 November 2023, the Hurricanes announced that Andersen would be out indefinitely to address a blood clotting issue that had been discovered during medical testing.[23] Andersen returned on 7 March 2024,[24] making 24 saves in a 4–1 win against the Montreal Canadiens.[25] On 7 April, he recorded his 294th win in his 494th NHL game and surpassed Braden Holtby (293 wins in 500 games) for the most wins by a goaltender in their first 500 career games.[26][27] Andersen finished the regular season with a 13–2–0 record. He was voted a finalist for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association to the player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."[28]
Andersen comes from a family of ice hockey players. His father, Ernst, played seventeen seasons as a goaltender in the Metal Ligaen (Superisligaen). He is the goaltending coach for the men's national team and for Herning Blue Fox of the Metal Ligaen.[30] Andersen's mother and uncles also played ice hockey in Denmark. His sister, Amalie, is a defenceman for the Danish women's national team and played in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF).[31] His brother, Sebastian, is also a defenceman and represented Denmark in the under-18 and junior competitions.[30][32] His brother, Valdemar, and cousin, Emma-Sofie Nordström, are also professional goaltenders.[33][34]
^Hornick, Erik (31 March 2018). "The Skinny: Maple Leafs 5, Islanders 4". NHL.com. Retrieved 31 March 2018. Andersen made 29 saves as he tied the Maple Leaf record for win by a goaltender
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