Darling Offers Intriguing Fantasy Value with the Hurricanes
Dobber
2017-05-07
Fantasy Outlook: After acquiring Scott Darling from Chicago for a third-round draft pick, the Hurricanes signed him to a four-year deal worth $4.15 million per season. Here's what it means in the world of fantasy hockey.
Darling, who had a Tier 3 rating in the latest DobberHockey goalie rankings, easily moves up to the second tier. Does he move up to Tier 1? Well that depends on how bullish you are about Carolina's regular season chances. They had 36 wins last season (35 in 2015-16 and 30 in 2014-15). If the 'Canes can get 42 wins, then Darling will get at least 35 of them and that would make him a reliable and safe Tier 1 goalie. For now, I'd assume 37 wins (just a small uptick) and Darling as a safe 30-win guy. Because he's going to get the start night after night – teams don't back up the Brinks truck like that and dump millions of dollars in your driveway so that you can be a backup.
So what does that mean for Eddie Lack and Cam Ward? Both goaltenders are signed for 2017-18: Ward is at $3.3 million and Lack is at $2.75 million. Both will be exposed for the expansion draft and both will be ignored in the expansion draft. The Hurricanes will either buy one of them out or bury one in the minors (and only get a cap hit relief of $900,000). The other one will be the expensive backup. What I would do is buy out Ward and make Lack the backup. But there is a loyalty factor here (Ward) that's difficult to measure.
One question I've been asked several times from readers is if I think that Darling could be the next Cam Talbot. Darling will certainly be treated the same way Talbot has been treated: lots of game action. But is Carolina on the cusp of breaking out the way Edmonton was? No. Talbot owners only had to suffer through half of a weak season before everything fell into place. For Darling, the rocky ride will last a little longer because the Hurricanes don't have the luxury of a Connor McDavid. At the bottom end, Darling will do what Cory Schneider has been doing over the last two seasons with New Jersey. His career 0.923 SV% (75 games) is very impressive, but that was behind a powerful Chicago team and things won't be quite as rosy with the Hurricanes.
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