Darling

[Finlandia WOAT]

I was wrong.

Ward should be the starter. He should have been the starter along. I bought it. I bought it all hook line amd sinker. Even my immediate family bought it.

 

[AD Skinner]

Everybody did

 

[Breakdowns]

I am scared to go back and look how optimistic I were about him coming here..

 

[The Jerk Store]

Wasn't Darling touted as being very good at making the difficult or most dangerous saves? He should feel guilty every time he cashes his paycheck.

 

[djboos22]

After tonight, its definitely been rough. I just don't get their tactic in net right now. Cam is playing well so keep him in, for more than two games at a time. Darling prob feels like every start he makes has to be a shutout.

 

[Canes]

Wasn't Darling touted as being very good at making the difficult or most dangerous saves? He should feel guilty every time he cashes his paycheck.

If he listens to his sister at all, he probably thinks it's the team's fault he can't make a routine save.

 

[RodTheBawd]

I do. He makes millions to stop a puck. That’s like me being in sales and not being able to sell. My employer doesn’t care that I’m trying.

I'm not sure you understand how analogies work.

 

[MinJaBen]

Given that Arizona has a UFA goalie that is reasonably well thought of even after playing for Arizona over this year (Raanta), is not likely to sign him, has lots of cap room and probably is not looking to spend to the cap again, and their GM likes to play hockey's equivalent of Money-Ball....would any of you do this right now:

Canes: Ranta
Yotes: Darling ($1M retained), 1st (our choice at the draft if it is 2018 or 2019)

We'd get a reset at the backup position for the rest of the season, a chance to audition a goalie that many think/thought was ready for a number 1, and we don't have to give up 2018 1st if we miss the playoffs. Raanta's stats for this season on the dog's breakfast Yotes:

GP

GS

W

L

T/o

GA

SA

SV

SV%

GAA

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

33

32

10

14

6

75

931

856

.919

2.55

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I think I would do it at this point.

 

[Chan790]

Given that Arizona has a UFA goalie that is reasonably well thought of even after playing for Arizona over this year (Raanta), is not likely to sign him, has lots of cap room and probably is not looking to spend to the cap again, and their GM likes to play hockey's equivalent of Money-Ball....would any of you do this right now:

Canes: Ranta
Yotes: Darling ($1M retained), 1st (our choice at the draft if it is 2018 or 2019)

We'd get a reset at the backup position for the rest of the season, a chance to audition a goalie that many think/thought was ready for a number 1, and we don't have to give up 2018 1st if we miss the playoffs. Raanta's stats for this season on the dog's breakfast Yotes:

GP

GS

W

L

T/o

GA

SA

SV

SV%

GAA

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

33

32

10

14

6

75

931

856

.919

2.55

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

I think I would do it at this point.

I wouldn't do it because I'm opposed to moving our 1st unless we're getting the exact perfect deal...and this isn't it. I'm pretty sure AZ would prefer a spec (surer thing, closer to NHL-ready) and we'd prefer to send a spec. (There are a few positions where our depth makes the loss negligible.)

The Canes FO would't do it because Francis doesn't believe in paying high-prices to sell your mistakes (has said as much before) and seems to still believe that Darling can/will turn it around here, take at-least a 1B-role and justify the Canes FO's investment.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I'd rather just trade less (2nd/3rd round pick and prospect for instance) for Raanta vs. trading a 1st, just to get rid of Darling. If Raanta plays well and re-signs beyond this year, then buy out Darling.

We may need that 1st to fill other holes (center) at the draft / this off season.

 

[RodTheBawd]

The Canes FO would't do it because Francis doesn't believe in paying high-prices to sell your mistakes (has said as much before) and seems to still believe that Darling can/will turn it around here, take at-least a 1B-role and justify the Canes FO's investment.

I've seen this posted elsewhere and I just don't buy it. They're saying what they have to say while exploring every option to rid themselves of this mess, praying the guy can put his ass in front of enough pucks to maybe eek out a point or two when he's forced to play.

 

[Svechhammer]

Things that would be more effective in net than Scott Darling:

 

[geehaad]

I'm not so sure Raanta is available. Granted, it's just HFBoards posters, but I've seen it said that Raanta is viewed as their #1 of the future and they aren't willing to part with him.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

That's probably true. I'm surprised they haven't extended him yet.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

I was wrong.

Ward should be the starter. He should have been the starter along. I bought it. I bought it all hook line amd sinker. Even my immediate family bought it.

It's OK given that I take no pleasure in the fact that my earlier skepticism about trading for/signing him ended up being borne out.

 

[GoldiFox]

That's probably true. I'm surprised they haven't extended him yet.

I think it's highly possible that a pending UFA Raanta doesn't want to stay in the dumpster fire that is Arizona.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I was unsure if Darling would be the fix, as I didn't know enough about him, but didn't have a problem with the move itself. Trading one of our 3rd round picks wasn't a big deal given how many picks we had and Darling was going to get a deal like this. After the trade:

Yep, I'm expecting a 3-4 year deal for at least what Talbot got. People will flip out about it and in the end, it may be a bad deal, but can't go into next season with the same tandem so IMO, it's probably worth the risk. I don't know enough about Darling to say he's the right guy vs. some of the other potential options, but none of them are slam dunks.

After the signing:

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.

At least so far, it's been a risk that hasn't turned out so it's a bad deal to this point. MAF was never coming here though, and IMO, neither was Bishop. Would have the Rangers traded Raanta to us? Who knows.

 

[DaveG]

Doubtful, not to mention Raanta was the same thing, a goalie that had never really been a #1 for even a modest period of time.

The big thing that's legitimately pissing me off is why does it feel like we're the only f***ing team that gets consistently burned by this shit? Khudobin, Lack, and now Darling. Dobby at least had one good season under Stefan before Marcoux was brought in, but this is now 4 full on seasons of shit goaltending by people not named Cam Ward.

Sure there's other goalies that have struck out a time or two, but even going back to Dan Ellis we've been a real shitshow when it comes to backups and goaltending on the whole minus that one year of Khudobin.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Graham, Leighton, Legace, Boucher, Ellis, Khudobin, Peters, Lack, Darling.

Legace: .901, Ellis: .906, Khudobin: .926, Peters: .919 (same season as Dobby when we just collapsed around Peters), were the only ones that played 10+ games in a season and were > .900 SV%

 

[Unsustainable]

Has he been waived yet to join his other former teammate?

 

[bleedgreen]

Wasn't Darling touted as being very good at making the difficult or most dangerous saves? He should feel guilty every time he cashes his paycheck.

It was actually the opposite to me, playing on a good team like that he needed to be good at making the first save and making sure the easy ones didn’t get by. The team did the rest. He easily flopped out of position after the first shot. Here he’s not making that first save even, that’s kick in the gut.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

It was actually the opposite to me, playing on a good team like that he needed to be good at making the first save and making sure the easy ones didn’t get by. The team did the rest. He easily flopped out of position after the first shot. Here he’s not making that first save even, that’s kick in the gut.

That and the fact that Chicago seemed to try to shelter his starts are what gave me pause - there were a few posters here who did claim, however, that Darling did extremely well on high-danger shots and would be a significant upgrade from Ward.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Darling is toast this season. For whatever reason, he just doesn't have it. I don't know if that means waiving him so he can find his game in Charlotte (being waived and unclaimed could totally embarrass him and wreck what self-esteem he has left), or calling up Ned and locking Darling in the press box to feel sorry for himself.

I don't think Francis will be looking at a buyout this summer, and I don't think there's any market for Darling and his contract, so he'll probably get this offseason to get his fundamentals right and try again next season.

Why in God's name can't we ever get our goaltending situation un****ed?

 

[A Star is Burns]

I thought he would be pretty darn good based on how he played in Chicago. Even if we aren't as good as they were, he doesn't look the same. He's very bad, and who knows if he'll ever figure it out again. Very difficult situation.

 

[BrindAmours Army]