Carolina Hurricanes: A GM’s Guide for Next Season (Part 1)

Our whole Goaltending Fiasco

I think I’ve made my opinion quite clear on this topic. Nothing really went right for poor Scott Darling this season, and Cam Ward was was stuck in front of the posts in desperation. Ward, who some thought probably wouldn’t be in the NHL at this point, put up a surprisingly good performance early on.

Unfortunately, Ward just couldn’t keep it up at that pace. I really can’t blame him. This year, Ward was promised a rest; a backup position. Instead, he was forced into a spot he really wasn’t suited for. With Cam’s contract expiring, I for one am not willing to risk throwing away another season as a result of bad goaltending.

At this point, we have to accept the reality that we have no starting goaltender on the roster. The only fix to the solution, would either be a trade or a new signing. And, since I don’t really see any possible decent trade in the works, I think the best thing we can do is to sign a new goalie.

Quite a bold statement, I know. Admittedly, goalie free agency is nothing to phone home about this year.  Some of the more notable free agents include: Kari Lehtonen, Jaroslav Halak, Eddie Lack, Jonathan Bernier, Anton Khudobin, Antii Niemi and Ondrej Pavelec.

The Goalie List

In order for us to narrow down which of these guys would be ideal, we have to make a bit of a chart.

Ha, I didn’t even know I could do that. Anyways, who can we pluck out with this chart, as victor? Well, coming off a 6 million dollar contract, Kari Lehtonen will likely be pushed out of Dallas by Ben Bishop, unless he’s willing to accept a backup role. Lehtonen is one of those weird limbo goaltenders; one that rides the fine line between starter and backup.

In all likelihood, Kari is gonna want quite a bit of green. The Stars sure gave it to him, along with their sickening puke-colored jersey. Additionally, I think it’s time the Hurricanes made a statement. Do we want a backup or a starter? Are we going to trust Scott Darling to regain his former glory? Do we trust Alex Nedeljkovic to develop into a star(ter)?

In my opinion, signing a limbo goalie, who probably wants a pile of cash, would not be an intelligent decision.  Thus, I think we can exclude Lehtonen from the conversation.

Continued

Ondrej Pavelec is sort of the Czech equivalent of Cam Ward. A former starting goalie who is pretty well passed his prime. He hasn’t put up a decent save percentage since  the 2014-15 season, and his save percentage this season was a shaky .910. We can probably cross Pavelec off as an NHL goalie, and we really have no reason to sign him.

Former Hurricane Eddie Lack is quite an easy one to cross off the list. He flipped around the AHL a bit, and played only 8 games in the NHL this year, ending up with a pretty abysmal .858 save percentage. I hope he can make his back into NHL contention once again, but signing him is probably out of the question.

Now, Jonathan Bernier is pretty interesting. He ended up with a .913 save percentage this year, proving himself to be a high-level backup… and dare I say it… a possible fringe starter. If the Avalanche part ways with him, he might be the best option for the Hurricanes.  Then again, why would Colorado part with him? If they did, that would mean the potential return of the the Hamburglar himself: Andrew Hammond, which would probably not be too great for the Avs.

Anton Khudobin would be nice, but I don’t see the Bruins letting go of him. Boston has a reputation for relying on Tuuka Rask far too much, and Khudobin’s good season came as a pleasant surprise. Not resigning Khudobin would be pretty silly.

A few other options

And so, that leaves us with everyone’s favorite unwilling mercenary: Antii Niemi. Niemi has jumped all over the league this year. He started with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he played 3 games before being placed on waivers, where he was claimed by the Panthers. His luck did not improve much in Sunrise, and he was once again, placed on waivers.

With a .824 save percentage in his first 5 games, it looked like Niemi’s time in the NHL was soon to conclude. Then, the Montreal Canadiens claimed him. They were to be his third team in under 2 months. Something about Montreal must have struck a cord with him, because he wound up with a .929 save percentage in 19 games. Niemi was one of the only bright spots on one of the worst Habs teams of all time.

When you looked at the chart, and saw that Niemi even possibly  a starting goaltender, you probably laughed your head off. Heck, it still looks wrong to me too. But if we make some sort of quality:cost:free agent likelihood ratio, Niemi is at the top.

Here, I’ll throw another advanced stat at you: GSAA or goals saved above average. This stat calculates how many goals above or below average your goaltender has stopped/allowed. Antii Niemi is not great at a -0.68. Cam Ward, however, is at -7.82, while Scott Darling is a -28.22. Niemi is obviously a significant improvement, assuming Darling stays at his current pace.

Final Advice and Conclusion

Alright future Hurricanes GM. Are you ready for my advice? If you don’t feel like trading for anyone, (which I wouldn’t because Alex Nedeljkovic should be arriving soon) then I think your best option would be Jonathan Bernier. Bernier has been consistently decent. Not great, not bad, but decent.

However, in the event that the Avalanche keep Jonathan Bernier, then I believe (please don’t laugh) that Antii Niemi would be the best choice. Niemi has done far better than anyone reasonably expected in Montreal. Who knows, maybe he can channel his inner Shark and reclaim his former glory.

Next: 3 reasons Scott Darling could have a huge 2018-19 season

Would you look at that. This was supposed to contain information about every position, but I just spent 1300 words talking about goalies. What is wrong with me? I guess I’ll have to make this a series now. Well, stay tuned for the offense and defense edition. Good day, everyone.

(Sources: https://www.capfriendly.com, hockeydb.com, hockey-reference.com)