Speculation: What will Canes do at deadline?

What will Canes do at deadline?


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MinJaBen

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Dec 14, 2015
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Ward's problem is that he is not as consistent as we would like, but he doesn't make the other goalies bad. That is on them and the system. In an ideal world where Darling took the starter's crease by storm, maybe we should have been looking to replace ward with a better and cheaper backup caliber goalie, but that didn't happen. They should look to keep him for next year if reasonably possible assuming they will move on from Darling. If they won't move on from Darling, then we need to take a chance and find a better goalie than Ward. Probably will fail at that as management/coaching doesn't seem to have a clue, but maybe they get lucky like a blind squirrel.
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
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We can't fix the position. We keep trying and failing. The one constant is Ward. Change the constant.

If we're not making it with Ward, why do we keep hitting our head against the wall trying the same thing. There are goalies on that list that would probably do about the same job ward has done. Whether or not we can get them or not, Idk.

We decreased value at C to move on from Staal. Everybody agreed it was the right thing to do.

What's different about goalie? and I don't necesarrily think if w can grab one of 3-4 on that list we'd be decreasing value.

I don't follow that at all. Ward was brought back as a BACK-UP this year. We need someone better than Ward to be the starter, which Darling failed to do. Keeping Ward as the back-up isn't an issue at all, in fact, he'd be a damn good back-up. Going into next season with Ward / Darling is a disaster, but it's the Darling part of the equation that is the problem.
 

vorbis

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Feb 9, 2013
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I haven't followed numerous hockey teams so I can't claim to know what coaching staffs are like with goalies on a broad level.

but, how common is it for a coach to be like Bill Bob in the sense that, he really kind of leaves the goalies alone in his coaching, and leans on the goalie coach for that. I've heard him in numerous interviews kind of shrug off goalie fit, goalie development, goalie training, kind of washing his hands of their performance (not passing the buck obviously, given the 'make a **** save' episode), and focus mainly on the skaters.

I've found myself a few times thinking while watching interviews of his that he should be a little more interested in the finer aspects of goalie performance. but maybe it's just so specialized that there's not much use in trying to multitask in that way.
 

tarheelhockey

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Feb 12, 2010
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I don't follow that at all. Ward was brought back as a BACK-UP this year. We need someone better than Ward to be the starter, which Darling failed to do. Keeping Ward as the back-up isn't an issue at all, in fact, he'd be a damn good back-up. Going into next season with Ward / Darling is a disaster, but it's the Darling part of the equation that is the problem.

I do love the logic, though. They should start combing through the organization for people that have been working there since 2007.
 

DaveG

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Apr 7, 2003
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We can't fix the position. We keep trying and failing. The one constant is Ward. Change the constant.

If we're not making it with Ward, why do we keep hitting our head against the wall trying the same thing. There are goalies on that list that would probably do about the same job ward has done. Whether or not we can get them or not, Idk.

We decreased value at C to move on from Staal. Everybody agreed it was the right thing to do.

What's different about goalie? and I don't necesarrily think if w can grab one of 3-4 on that list we'd be decreasing value.
Problem is there's more then one constant. And one of the other constants, which is probably the biggest one, is that Ward outplays whoever the hell we bring in to challenge him for the starting job.

This honestly goes back to what I have been asking for a while now. Why the hell do some in our fanbase act like the guys brought in to compete with Ward are a solid 20 save pct. points better then they actually are just because they're not Cam Ward.? Why get rid of the guy that's actually putting up numbers that are merely below average when he's fine with staying here on reasonable contracts when the alternative is to keep the guy that's pure dog shit just because they're not Cam Ward? Getting rid of Cam for the sake of getting rid of Cam isn't the solution to the problem when the other half of the equation is outright definitively worse.
 
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CanesFanBudMan

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Jun 14, 2016
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The only way Cam is the problem is if he's slipping whoever the other goalie is at the time some sort of mind altering drug before games. The other more likely possibility is that there is something else in the organization turning the goalies into dog poo. Get rid of Cam and I think its more likely than not we end up with 2 piles of dog poo.
 

DaveG

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Apr 7, 2003
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Ward's problem is that he is not as consistent as we would like, but he doesn't make the other goalies bad. That is on them and the system. In an ideal world where Darling took the starter's crease by storm, maybe we should have been looking to replace ward with a better and cheaper backup caliber goalie, but that didn't happen. They should look to keep him for next year if reasonably possible assuming they will move on from Darling. If they won't move on from Darling, then we need to take a chance and find a better goalie than Ward. Probably will fail at that as management/coaching doesn't seem to have a clue, but maybe they get lucky like a blind squirrel.
Even if we can't move on from Darling (ie: can't find someone that will even take him at 50% retained) we absolutely need to bring in another goalie to go with Ward next season. Darling absolutely CAN NOT be the answer to "who plays with Ward?" heading in to next season until he goes to the AHL and gets his shit back on straight. If that means you bury his 4 million in the minors Leafs style you f***ing bury it in the minors and go out to try to sign someone better then him which shouldn't be too f***ing hard. I give no shits if that means it's Raanta, Ned, or even Veini Vehviläinen who I've been pimping for us to draft for about a month now. But much like Derek Ryan in no way should be on the NHL roster to start next season, Scott Darling likewise should in no way shape or form be on our NHL roster until he can prove that he has his head on straight in the minors first.
 

MinJaBen

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Even if we can't move on from Darling (ie: can't find someone that will even take him at 50% retained) we absolutely need to bring in another goalie to go with Ward next season. Darling absolutely CAN NOT be the answer to "who plays with Ward?" heading in to next season until he goes to the AHL and gets his **** back on straight. If that means you bury his 4 million in the minors Leafs style you ****ing bury it in the minors and go out to try to sign someone better then him which shouldn't be too ****ing hard. I give no ****s if that means it's Raanta, Ned, or even Veini Vehviläinen who I've been pimping for us to draft for about a month now. But much like Derek Ryan in no way should be on the NHL roster to start next season, Scott Darling likewise should in no way shape or form be on our NHL roster until he can prove that he has his head on straight in the minors first.

I agree with you. But if you believe for one second that Francis will bury any money in Charlotte long term, especially after trading Jooris to save a few bucks, I want some of what you are brewing. There is nothing in the history of Francis or this organization that says that if we still have Darling, we will send him to the AHL and bring in a third goalie. I won't believe or entertain that idea until I see it with my own eyes.
 

Boom Boom Apathy

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Sep 6, 2006
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Other than going down in an attempt to get his game back, I can't see the Canes burying Darling in the AHL. I don't care how rich Dundon is. There are maybe 3-4 teams (Toronto, MTL, NYR, ?) that can afford to make moves like that, and even for some of them it's a stretch. It has zero to do with Francis.
 

CanesFanBudMan

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Jun 14, 2016
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I agree with you. But if you believe for one second that Francis will bury any money in Charlotte long term, especially after trading Jooris to save a few bucks, I want some of what you are brewing. There is nothing in the history of Francis or this organization that says that if we still have Darling, we will send him to the AHL and bring in a third goalie. I won't believe or entertain that idea until I see it with my own eyes.
I could see Dundon going over GMRFs head and making this decision (or at least I'd like to think I can). While he's not a hockey guy it doesn't take a genus to see Darling is not in the same county as being an NHL quality goalie.
 

DaveG

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Apr 7, 2003
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I agree with you. But if you believe for one second that Francis will bury any money in Charlotte long term, especially after trading Jooris to save a few bucks, I want some of what you are brewing. There is nothing in the history of Francis or this organization that says that if we still have Darling, we will send him to the AHL and bring in a third goalie. I won't believe or entertain that idea until I see it with my own eyes.
I don't disagree with that, which is why I think that Raanta is a pipe dream until we can find someone that will take Darling. The other two options, however, I would say are not. If we can get someone that's playing for dirt cheap (IE playing on their ELC) to replace Darling I don't doubt that we'd bury Darling in the minors. In essence the difference in what we're paying in that situation is about 700K, which is easily made up for in the first 2 playoff games alone, and I have little doubt that Darling has literally cost this team about 10 points in the standings on his own so far this year. If we can bring in a backup situation where the cost is only 5 points that puts us in position to be in even as shitty as we've been playing of late.
 

My Special Purpose

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Apr 8, 2008
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I pointed this out earlier this season. We are becoming the goalie graveyard. It's like the system is only accommodating wards play style so every other goalie we try completely flounders. Regardless it's an interesting observation to say the least. Small sample size or not Darling was really solid in Chicago to the point some fans were ok with keeping him over Crawford and here he looks ECHL quality. That just doesn't happen overnight i'm sorry.

You guys may be onto something with the "system affecting goalies not named Cam," but that's just weird to me. How does the system make a guy whiff on a center-ice dump in? How does the system have him off his angle so badly that a shot hitting him doesn't count as a shot on goal? Like I said, you may all be right, I just don't get it.

OTOH, I can see how a guy who came up in the Blackhawks system, got chances to play in the backup role, and won a few playoff games in his age 26 season while still on his ELC, would struggle mentally after being traded to a team in dire need of a starting goalie and signed to a four-year guaranteed contract. The pressure to perform just became enormous and he wasn't equipped to handle it. He went from a very comfortable situation to a very high-pressure one, and he folded.

To me that's a much simpler explanation than it somehow being Bill Peters's fault, especially when you consider the same thing happened with Lack and Khudobin.
 

tarheelhockey

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Other than going down in an attempt to get his game back, I can't see the Canes burying Darling in the AHL. I don't care how rich Dundon is. There are maybe 3-4 teams (Toronto, MTL, NYR, ?) that can afford to make moves like that, and even for some of them it's a stretch. It has zero to do with Francis.

Dundon seems like the kind of guy where this would work:

"Well, Tom, we really can't have Darling in Raleigh because that means we're going to do nothing but lose, lose, lose. We could bury him in Charlotte, but let's be honest, we're not the kind of rich guys that could do something like that.

*takes looooooooooooooooooooong sip of water*

Welp, I guess we'll just sit here until we think of something."
 

tarheelhockey

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Feb 12, 2010
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it's also just kind of weird that a goalie who played in 5 playoff games for a stanley cup champion would implode from the pressures of a run-of-the-mill starting role 3 years later. brains are funny.

Not to get too personal about him, but Darling doesn't exactly seem like a guy who's slow and steady in life. I'm not at all surprised that he could handle the extreme highs of performing well on a Cup-bound team, but couldn't handle the pressure of being expected to clock in every day and carry a struggling team. If anything, his ability to handle this specific kind of pressure was one of the questions we asked about him when he inked the contract.
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
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Dundon seems like the kind of guy where this would work:

"Well, Tom, we really can't have Darling in Raleigh because that means we're going to do nothing but lose, lose, lose. We could bury him in Charlotte, but let's be honest, we're not the kind of rich guys that could do something like that.

*takes looooooooooooooooooooong sip of water*

Welp, I guess we'll just sit here until we think of something."

:laugh:

I think Dundon is actually the type of guy that would look at it and say. "Don't compound your mistake Ron. Execute a f***ing buyout!"
 

NotOpie

"Puck don't lie"
Jun 12, 2006
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I don't follow that at all. Ward was brought back as a BACK-UP this year. We need someone better than Ward to be the starter, which Darling failed to do. Keeping Ward as the back-up isn't an issue at all, in fact, he'd be a damn good back-up. Going into next season with Ward / Darling is a disaster, but it's the Darling part of the equation that is the problem.

This makes me wonder if it doesn't make sense to go get a guy as an RFA with time left on his waiver exemption or straight up get a high performing AHL'er and have a 3 way battle for the starters role (assuming that Ward is re-signed to another one or two year deal). The loser goes down to Charlotte. While these guys probably aren't available, maybe somebody like Tristan Jarry or Juuse Saros, both of whom are still waiver eligible. In the end, if Darling is the loser, he gets buried in Charlotte and works on his game. If he doesn't recover, you buy him out the following season.

But much like Derek Ryan in no way should be on the NHL roster to start next season, Scott Darling likewise should in no way shape or form be on our NHL roster until he can prove that he has his head on straight in the minors first.

I believe there was an opportunity to send Darling down for a conditioning stint a month or so ago, but that time has past. They've got to have a strategy to either get a 3rd guy in here or get a starter who can put up better than league average numbers.
 

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