Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers swap Netminders

Don Waddell and the Carolina Hurricanes are at it again, trading Scott Darling and a 6th round pick to the Florida Panthers for goalie James Reimer.

The Carolina Hurricanes are on a roll this offseason and seem to be making trades daily. Don Waddell may have just finessed yet another team with this trade with the Florida Panthers. Scott Darling was not what the Canes expected him to be when they signed him 2 years ago for a 4 year 16.6 million dollar deal.

Darling came to Carolina in hopes that he could earn the starting job here, coming off a then strong season with the Chicago Blackhawks. Unfortunately for Darling, his time with the Canes was not where he likely had hoped. Darling posted numbers of a .888 save percentage and just 13 wins in 43 games played in the 2017-2018 season. Darling struggled at the beginning of this season which caused him to then be sent down to the Checkers.

Talks of Darling being bought out was ongoing after he took time away from the organization however it never came to fruition. Darling barring a buyout with the Panthers will get a new opportunity to show his worth in the NHL. Perhaps Darling will fight for playtime on the Panthers AHL affiliate the “Rochester Americans”. He had moments of playing well but one would say that his confidence was just never there with the Canes.

However, Darling’s contract was something that the Canes thought necessary to get rid at a 4.15 million cap hit this year. James Reimer’s cap hit is only 3.4 million for the next two seasons. Sebastian Aho is rumored to get a contract from anywhere between 7 million and 10.5 per season and every little bit helps, as the Canes saved an estimated 750,000 from this trade.

Not only do the Canes save on cap room for this trade but they get an established goalkeeper. Reimer is not a scrub by any means. This past season was not necessarily Reimer’s best with a .900 save percentage and only 13 wins in 36 games played but Carolina’s defense is much better than the Florida Panthers.

Reimer may have had a down year this past season but he has shown in the past that he is capable of putting numbers of a .920 save percentage and a GAA of 2.53 as he did in 2016. Those numbers are serviceable and he could compete for the backup goalie spot with the likes of Ned and newly acquired goalie Anton Forsberg.

The biggest part of this trade is the fact that the Canes are paying a goalie to play rather than sit like Darling did this year. However it is possible that Riemer will be moved again.

It also seems that James Reimer was destined to be a Hurricane as all the way back in 2006 the Canes traded Danny Richmond and a fourth round pick to Chicago for Anton Babchuk and a 4th round pick in the next years’ draft. Chicago, then traded this pick to Toronto who ended up selecting James Reimer. It seems Reimer’s career has now come full circle as he is a member of the Hurricanes.

In conclusion it cannot be stressed enough at how good of a trade this was for Carolina. The Carolina traded a bad contract for a player who could challenge others for the number 2 goalie spot all while receiving more cap room for players such as Aho or maybe even Mrazek.

Question for Cardiac Cane Readers: Which team do you think won this trade?