Confirmed with Link: Canes Acquire Scott Darling for a 3rd, signed 4.15 x4

[Bunch of Jurcos]

Also I believe this buys some goodwill with the fanbase. Ron made it a point to communicate at the end of the year how big of an issue goaltending was and he was aggressive about addressing the problem. It's exciting to be May and to have hope again.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

YASSSSSSSS

DO THAT WORK RONNIE ****ING FRANCHISE

Ok, now I'm legit excited. One problem solved and it's still Cinco de Mayo.

 

[Wolfpuck]

I was expecting 3 years at 4.25-4.5, so I think this is fine.

Right or wrong, he's our guy now.

 

[RodTheBawd]

Good stuff. Echo everyone on the extra year.

 

[Identity404]

It also means that we got the guy our scouts liked best rather than the guy who was just the last one off the merry go round.

Apparently our scouts also liked lack, who was a terrible fit for our team.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Really don't like giving out multi-year contracts based off small/no sample size. This team has been burned by that a lot in recent years. But it was a necessity in this case, simply to ensure we didn't trade the 3rd for nothing.

Hope he works out better than Lack did.

 

[DougieSmash]

Darling is crazy good. Darling, Slavin, Pesce, Hanifin, Faulk and Fleury, man. What a day, glad he choose us. It's good contract, the kid is pretty hard worker.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Awesome to see. Dude was a soldier for us and he's battled more than his fair share of demons to get to where he's at. I wish him nothing but the best of luck and fully intend to buy a Canes Darling t-shirt the next time I visit my brothers' family out there.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

I like that RF identified his guy, went out and got his negotiating rights and then got him signed. He couldn't just stand pat and get outbid this summer.

At this point all I can do is pray that this works out. We need it to so bad. Even with league average goaltending we could get into the postseason.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I like that RF identified his guy, went out and got his negotiating rights and then got him signed. He couldn't just stand pat and get outbid this summer.

At this point all I can do is pray that this works out. We need it to so bad. Even with league average goaltending we could get into the postseason.

Maybe, maybe not. Posted it in another thread, but in half the games last year, we scored 2 or less goals. Which meant the goaltender in net (whoever that was) would have needed to only allow 1 or less to get a win. That's a much higher demand than league average.

Darling will hopefully give us more of those 1 or less games than Ward/Lack did, but I don't think "league average goaltending" will be the difference, assuming we don't make any other major moves.

 

[Brock Ness Monster]

And with Marcoux gone GMRF can get someone that works better for Darling since that was (from what I understand) a problem with Marcoux and Lack

 

[DougieSmash]

It's nice that we acquire Darling from such a winning organisation. We could use some guys with expierence. I still would love TVR and Kruger from Hawks.

 

[Vagrant]

I think $4.5-4.75 over 3 years would be where Carolina would want it. He might want the extra year to make it 4. If he does, maybe he leaves some on the table and takes $4 million.

I'll take it. Great signing by RF. Right in the wheelhouse.

 

[VAcaniac]

Really don't like giving out multi-year contracts based off small/no sample size. This team has been burned by that a lot in recent years. But it was a necessity in this case, simply to ensure we didn't trade the 3rd for nothing.

Hope he works out better than Lack did.

My thoughts exactly. I still have PTSD from some of those past contracts. Hopefully RF isnt as dumb as JR. Not a high bar to hurdle.

 

[Novacane]

A little rich for my blood but at the end of the day, it had to get done. And it's not like we're exactly hurting for cap space

 

[SaskCanesFan]

I thought I would have preferred either a year less or smaller salary. After having it pointed out though that it puts him right around 25th highest paid for goalies, I have no problem. If he's even average then that's a good contact. And even if he completely bombs then we went from paying Ward 6 million a year to Darling 4 million for a 900 SV%. Francis saw a problem with the roster, and actively worked to fix it, so I'll take that chance.

 

[DougieSmash]

This past regular season, only two goaltenders — Craig Anderson (94.0) and Vezina Trophy-favorite Sergei Bobrovsky (93.9) — who appeared in at least 30 games had a better 5-on-5 save percentage than Darling, who recorded a 93.7 percentage.

 

[HisIceness]

Glad he is signed. Hopefully he is the answer to this teams goaltending woes.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Really don't like giving out multi-year contracts based off small/no sample size. This team has been burned by that a lot in recent years. But it was a necessity in this case, simply to ensure we didn't trade the 3rd for nothing.

Hope he works out better than Lack did.

I disagree with that in bold. I think RF would have lost no sleep at all if we lost that 3rd for nothing, as it was our 7th pick out of 11 in this coming draft and one that we basically got for nothing (signed Stalberg as a UFA and then traded him at the deadline). He knew that was the cost to take the risk.

Darling would have gotten at least this much if he was signed as a UFA on the open market, so that was the going rate. I do agree with you that giving out a multi-year deal to an unproven goalie gives me pause, as it's burned us in the past, but RF didn't have a lot of good options here. I don't know much about Darling, but I like the move in terms of how the Canes went about it. They recognize goaltending is a problem, so they go out and try to address it. I think we'll see a Darling/Ward combo next year.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

I just had flashbacks of us extending Lack before he ever played a game for us.

I hope I will be able to sleep tonight.

 

[Roboturner913]

Yeah, I don't think the 3rd rounder was that big a deal. If he didn't want to spend that kind of money all he had to do was walk away.

All I know is, we got a guy with a .920+ career, coming from a winning organization and at nearly the peak age for a goaltender. All we have to hope is that his 30-game performance translates to 55 or 60. That's nothing but a mental hurdle, and for a guy who's bounced around so many leagues and beaten alcoholism, it doesn't seem like such a big one.

And I have to admit, I kinda love RF for going "all in" on this one. I like the show of faith. I think it says a lot about the kind of team he wants to build.

 

[DaveG]

About a year longer then I was expecting, that aside it had to be done. Nobody in the system is ready, and we needed some sort of upgrade over Lack/Ward. I wouldn't be shocked if Darling proves to be the best of this years UFA goalie crop.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

I like this

A lot

 

[CPHawksFan]

Congrats Scott and congrats Canes fans, you will like him! Hate to see him go!

 

[Breakdowns]

We expected this, so I trust GMRF, and I hope this will work out!

So who is going now? Lack or Ward? Trade or buyout?