Darling to be the new Starter in Carolina?

[hf101]

 

The Carolina Hurricanes, announced today that they have acquired goaltender Scott Darling from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Ottawa's 2017 third-round draft pick.

 

Darling has previously stated that he has been a backup long enough and he is ready for a starting role.  The 28-year-old went 18-5-5, with a 2.38 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage in 32 games played for Chicago last season.

 

The acquisition of Darling means that the Hurricanes will have 3 NHL goaltenders of which they can protect 1 looks like that one will be Darling.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

As much as I always liked Cam Ward, the guy simply couldn't stay healthy long enough in any given season to really give his team a shot for a competitive season.

Even with the Canes' offensive and/or defensive woes over the years, when Cam Ward was healthy and on his game, one would be hard pressed to find a better goalie.

 

But again, if he isn't on the ice, he can't help his team, and if he IS on the ice, and not 100%, he is simply just another mediocre goaltender.

 

Eddie Lack certainly hasn't been enough for the Canes to move on from Ward....but enter Scott Darling, and THIS may be the guy that finally allows Carolina to sever ties with Ward, upgrade from Eddie Lack as a back up, and generally give the team a better chance to compete.

 

Darling had filled in admirably for Corey Crawford, and at 28 yrs old, I think its about time Darling got his own gig.

He made $575K with the Hawks and is a UFA come July 1st, but I have the feeling that if Darling knows he will get a starting job with the Canes, he would play for a reasonable amount to stay on with Carolina.

Perhaps something in the $3-4M range for maybe 5 yrs would do the trick?

 

In looking over capfriendly.com, the Canes are still in pretty good shape draft-wise with their own 1st round pick, THREE second round picks and TWO third round picks.....and all this even after trading away the 3rd rounder for Darling.

 

Good deal for Carolina.

[hf101]

Darling signs a 4 year deal worth 16.6M.  Not bad with an average cap hit of $4.15M.

 

“Obviously Scott could have waited until July 1, to see what other options he might have as an unrestricted free agent,” said Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes “But he believes in what we are trying to do here and we are thrilled that he is committing to the Hurricanes and to Raleigh.”

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

 Canes have decently fast team and some nice offensive options. With some more defensive seasoning (I.e. Guys like Hanifan take the next step) and perhaps another sniper and another vet depth player or two, and Darling could find himself in a good situation for repeated playoff runs during the next four years there

 

 

[jammer2]

On 5/5/2017 at 8:51 PM, hf101 said:

Darling signs a 4 year deal worth 16.6M.  Not bad with an average cap hit of $4.15M.

 

“Obviously Scott could have waited until July 1, to see what other options he might have as an unrestricted free agent,” said Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes “But he believes in what we are trying to do here and we are thrilled that he is committing to the Hurricanes and to Raleigh.”

 

 

 

 

 One thing that will play to Scott's advantage, surprisingly enough, Carolina allowed less shots per game than Chicago did.

https://www.sportingcharts.com/nhl/stats/team-shots-against-per-game/2016/

 

The 4.15 per year for 4 years makes me pause for thought. Darling turns 29 in December, and really is unproven as a starter. I'm sure they did their due diligence before shelling out the bucks, but this could easily be a horrible albatross of a contract if Scott does not click with his new team or the new starters role.

 

 The good news, there is some decent young talent coming up the pipeline (yiesh, there better be with all those sad sack seasons!) and the Canes have that feel of a up and coming team. Perhaps there is room for Darling to grow into this role. This has one of those feels like a bust or boom with not much inbetween.

 

EDIT....yikes, UFA proven starters like Mason must LOVE to hear this kind of pay out for a career back up, hard to see Mason NOT asking for 5-5.5 mill for his services in this type of market....just as long as it's not my Flyers shelling out that kinda cash!!