Workrate Hockey - January 31, 2026

Thanks for sticking with me the last few weeks. This newsletter was supposed to go out yesterday but didn't because of reasons.

I wrote a little note the other day in my newsletter writing platform like I've been trying to do recently so that when I go to write these things I don't sit there with a completely blank screen and cry. It just said:

"Is Freddy back?"

Yes, I do use proper punctuation even in quick "jot it down" notes, thankyouverymuch. Anyway, this was while I was watching the Canes/Blackhawks game on Thursday, a note for the newsletter that was going to come out Friday before I passed out from exhaustion and then figured I'd put out later until the dread of the world filled my head. But during that Chicago game, Frederik Andersen was putting in some work, even though he'd end up losing the game in a skills competition. His numbers weren't outstanding on the surface (19 saves on 22 shots) nor on the deeper dig (-0.51 goals saved above expected) but he seemed to do enough, and came up big on some clutch opportunities. This was more bouncing off Freddy's real "comeback" game against New Jersey, where he stopped 29 of 30 and was a full 2.32 goals saved above expected and the thought creeped in - maybe the Canes don't need goaltending help that desperately going towards the deadline.

Which is a lie - of course they need better goaltending. BUT.