Rumor: Starting goaltender being run out of town by surprising backup.

Starting goalie may be out of job.

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Published 5 years ago
Rumor: Starting goaltender being run out of town by surprising backup.

The surprising performance of a backup goaltender has been very good news for the team that recently acquired him, but it may also be turning into very bad news for the organizations number one goaltender.

Back in early October as the Toronto Maple Leafs were scrambling to create space on their roster they were forced to waive two goaltenders, Calvin Pickard and Curtis McElhinney. Unfortunately for the Leafs both players were claimed by rival teams with Pickard going to the Philadelphia Flyers organization and McElhinney going to the Carolina Hurricanes but both have had very different results thus far. In the case of Pickard it's been a struggle with the Flyers, with his worst performance coming last night against his former team at the Air Canada Center, but for McElhinney it's been something akin to a revelation for both the veteran backup as well as for the Hurricanes themselves who were desperate for some help in goal.

The Hurricanes, prior to the acquisition of McElhinney, have been relying on veteran goaltender Scott Darling to start in goal for them ever since former Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis signed him to a 4 year deal that pays him an average annual value of $4.15 million per season. That deal has simply not worked out at all for Carolina and may in fact have served as one of the reasons that the organization decided to move on from Ron Francis when owner Tom Dundon took over the team. The Hurricanes however simply had no other options to lean on and as a result they kept going back to Darling in net, at least that may have been the case until now.

Sportsnet NHL insider Chris Johnston is now reporting that there may be a major shift happening in Carolina as a result of the strong play from the 35 year old McElhinney and in fact it may mean the end of Scott Darling in Carolina alltogether.

"What's interesting here guys is that Curtis McElhinney, the waiver wire pick up, has one three games this week," said Johnston on Saturday. "He has been the hot hand for the Hurricanes and there is a sense that this is going to come to a head and some are out there wondering if this could mean the end of Scott Darling's tenure in Carolina."

Darling's contract would be near impossible to move given his performance, although I have no doubt his former team the Chicago Blackhawks would welcome him back to the team in a backup role on a backup goaltender's salary. With that in mind it seems much more likely that if Darling is the odd man out in Carolina that a buyout would be the tool used rather than a trade in this scenario.

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