After notching another win, his sixth in seven career starts, Carolina Hurricanes netminder Brandon Bussi has been making a case for a larger workload.
The 27-year-old netminder waited quite a while for his shot in the NHL, but has certainly been making the most of his opportunity now that he's here.
In seven games, Bussi has a 6-1-0 record and a 0.899 save percentage. While that number doesn't seem as impressive at first glance, he has north of 0.890 in six of his starts and above 0.910 in four.
The American netminder also leads the Canes' three netminders with 2.7 goals saved above expected and he also is rocking a 0.900 high-danger save percentage, which is in the 99th percentile amongst all NHL netminders this season.
And with Pyotr Kochetkov once again dealing with injury and Frederik Andersen struggling a bit, it makes sense to give Bussi a little more of a runway with how well he's been playing.
"Yeah, for sure," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "We've kind of thrust him into some weird situations. He doesn't know when he's starting based on the health of the other guys, but I think he's done a good job. Last night, he came up with two really crucial saves at crucial times and helped us keep playing our game, and obviously win. He's earned every start he's had, and he's definitely earned the next one, whenever that is."
Brandon Bussi makes a massive breakaway save on Kyle Connor in the third period!
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) November 29, 2025
The "BUS-SI" chants from the Lenovo Center crowd that followed were incredible. 👏 pic.twitter.com/xWYPk4CUnO
Bussi has only started sporadically so far in the NHL, but he's used to a pretty steady workload, as across parts of four seasons in the AHL, the New York native appeared in 111 games (5, 32, 41, 33) and posted a 0.915 save percentage.
While he might not have been a known name when the Hurricanes first claimed him off of waivers, he's definitely been putting himself on the map.
"I think they know who he is now," said Seth Jarvis. "He's been electric. He's the best guy, so there's no one I'm happier for."
"I didn't know much about him, but I knew the name because we had talked about him a lot," Brind'Amour said. "I heard that name going around in the offseason, but I never even saw him play. But he's just a good dude. That's number one. Like, I love that part of it. You can just talk to him for a couple of minutes and know that this guy gets it. So that's a thing that stands out. And then can he stop pucks? Well, yeah. That's obviously something he's done for us really well."
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'He's Ready To Make That Jump': Brandon Bussi To Make First NHL Start In San JoseThe Carolina Hurricanes look to be in line to see an NHL debut tonight as goaltender Brandon Bussi is slated to make his first career start in San Jose after being the <a href="https://x.com/Real_Max_Miller/status/1978171483609309396">first to leave the ice at Tuesday's morning skate</a>.