After the 7-3 preseason loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the alarm bells began to sound for the Carolina Hurricanes. Fans were up in arms over what was an obliteration of the ‘Canes defense. The guy starting between the pipes, Cam Ward, took a lot of flak. He gave up 6 goals in a little over 29 minutes.
In contrast, newly acquired Eddie Lack looked much sharper in his start against the Capitals, going a perfect 22-22 in two periods. Lack looks poised to take on the starting job.
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In defense of Cam, the guys in front of him were being picked apart by the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, and Kris Letang. Still, his poor performance warrants some concerns going forward.
Hopping onto the overreaction bandwagon, if Cam Ward doesn’t play up to par this season, what options do the Hurricanes honestly have?
The popular answer to this question is a trade. For a team looking for a veteran goalie to play a back-up role, Ward would ideal. Some suspicions are that Ward’s return would be one or two late round picks. If the Hurricanes find themselves with that offer they should be very happy with that return. However, his $6.3 million cap hit makes this trade incredibly unlikely.
It really isn’t feasible for a trade involving Ward to take place without the Carolina Hurricanes making a massive sacrifice. Previous offers for the former Conn Smythe Winner have been harsh examples.
Flames made a trade offer for Cam Ward in exchange for Carolina's 7th pick. Obvious salary dump opportunity. Hurricanes declined.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 30, 2014
That proposed Calgary trade from back in 2014 was ridiculous, but not too far away from plausibility. An honest Cam Ward trade would most likely mean taking another massive contract on a player not worthy of it, ala David Clarkson. Looking across the league, there are few if any teams who would welcome a $6.3 million back-up goalie and have a terrible contract to give out in return.
The front office could package picks with Ward, but that would disrupt Francis’ plan for the coming seasons. Damaging the future in order to relieve cap space on what is a most likely non-playoff team isn’t a recipe for success.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes could send Ward to the AHL via waivers. It’s doubtful a team would acquire him off of waivers given his cap hit. The issue with this strategy is that the ‘Canes don’t want to pay a $6.8 million dollar salary for an AHL goalie. The team might as well keep him in the NHL.
That leaves one final option. The Hurricanes can simple ride it out. Ward’s contract expires next summer, so that cap burden will soon be relieved. Ward seems adamant about staying in Raleigh, so keeping him for the remainder of his contract is fair for both parties. The front office doesn’t have to make a bad trade in order to relieve cap space and Ward can work to earn a new contract for 2016.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a nice outcome for the ‘Canes when it comes to Cam Ward. However, by simply doing nothing in this situation, the Hurricanes would cause the least amount of damage to themselves.
It is just preseason, and anything can happen once October rolls around. Maybe Ward returns to All-Star form. Maybe he doesn’t. If he doesn’t, these options are what’s on Carolina’s table.