Confirmed with Link: Petr Mrazek signed 1 year, 1.5M

[GoldiFox]

Both these guys are decent people, who can't feel great about the way last season went. I'm willing to give them a shot to get themselves back on track.

As for Mrazek individually, if he sucks, we can easily waive his $1.5 million, one-year deal or bury him in the AHL and try to make a deal for Varlamov, Schneider or any other starter-turned-backup around the league. I don't get the feeling that we're tanking the season. There's upside here. And it's not like this is all set in stone. Things can change. If they're both 1-4 after 10 games, I have more confidence that this group with do something about it than the previous regime.

Darling was given the opportunity of a lifetime and a $16 million contract to reflect a career of hard work. He thanked that organization by spending an offseason eating and coming to camp unfit for the job he was hired to do. That isn’t something a decent person does, at least I wouldn’t say that is a decent coworker if I were on the team. Seems a bit selfish.

 

[DaveG]

Well I know who he is so that's a step above signing some wildcard AHL goaltender.

Unfortunately this tandem is probably going to suck but at least if Mrazek sucks it's only a year. Hopefully that will motivate his ass to not suck.

Honestly, the best news is that Mrazek is a bit of crazy and hyper-competitive in his own right. Maybe he'll snap on Scott at some point causing him to retire. I can only hope.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Especially considering they have $30 million in Cap and an owner who just said publicly that they have to spend closer to the ceiling if they want to compete. Kinda looks like they aren’t interested in competing.

Yeah, one of the first things he said after he bought the team was that he would spend whatever it takes to make the team competitive. Well, so far, he cheaped out on a GM and coach, and Darling's still on the team, so it's starting to look like he's full of it.

 

[Chrispy]

I'm about to go to my favorite local brewery, Koi Pond in Rocky Mount, to drown my sorrows and listen to a little live music.

Now you guys have me craving a trip to the local sports bar.

A Victory Sour sounds tasty right now. And oddly appropriate.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Andrew Hammond signed a 1-year, two way deal for 650k.

Would have felt better with a duo of Ward/Hammond than Darling/Mrazek.

Hasn’t Hammond been an AHL level goalie save for 1 inexplicable run for 2 months one time?

 

[Chrispy]

Is this really a punt to set them up to go after a 2019 UFA goalie?

I like the top of the crop:
Bobrovsky
Rinne
Varlamov
Fleury

But I would guess most will be resigned this season. After that?

Talbot
Elliott
Neuvirth
Nilsson
Ward?

 

[dogbazinho]

300m marketing campaign for Top Golf seems reasonable.

 

[My Special Purpose]

I wonder if there was something going on with Darling last year that hasn't been shared with us

Believe it or not, a Blackhawks fan noticed me checking NHL free agency on my phone today and asked me which was my team. I told her the Hurricanes and she immediately went to Scott Darling. She said she knew Scott and his sister, and that his sister was key to his recovery. This person felt that being away from his sister affected Scott more than they anticipated. I can certainly see how that could lead to him getting off his training and falling into some bad habits. I'm not sure how and why we should expect this season to be any better, but it did help me remember that these are real people, with real issues.

But from a fan point of view, I have to wonder how much RF knew about Darling's personal life before signing him for four years. With what we know now, it's pretty obvious this guy should not have been a candidate for a four-year deal.

 

[Canes]

Is this really a punt to set them up to go after a 2019 UFA goalie?

I like the top of the crop:
Bobrovsky
Rinne
Varlamov
Fleury

But I would guess most will be resigned this season. After that?

Think we should have a good chance at signing one of those guys. Maybe not Fleury but the first 3 for sure if they get to free agency. Hopefully they'll still be worth it by then.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Does this mean we have to move his sister to Raleigh? Lol

 

[dogbazinho]

Yeah, one of the first things he said after he bought the team was that he would spend whatever it takes to make the team competitive. Well, so far, he cheaped out on a GM and coach, and Darling's still on the team, so it's starting to look like he's full of it.

Not to mention the lack of usual Canes moves to help Cap strapped teams. Francis for all his warts would have a few 2nd rounders by now. Hossa? The Jets dump?

 

[BB88]

Lehner was the only palatable decision left. And we went with the dumpster fire option.

Only thing Carolina can now dream& hope is that he finds his potential.
Atleast he finally has a quality defense in front of him, maybe, just maybe that helps him to find his confidence again.

But Carolina needed consistency on net, and they went with the biggest ??? there was, as a potential starter.

 

[Ole Gil]

Hasn’t Hammond been an AHL level goalie save for 1 inexplicable run for 2 months one time?

Remember when we tricked Washington into giving Justin Peters a 2 year deal? That was funny.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Hasn’t Hammond been an AHL level goalie save for 1 inexplicable run for 2 months one time?

He's played a few games here and there in the NHL since then. But mostly it was about how little faith I have in the Darling/Mrazek duo.

 

[GoldiFox]

Does this mean we have to move his sister to Raleigh? Lol

She’s taking over for Shane Willis at intermissions too. Darling’s Destroying Defeat list 1) Start Scott 2) Oh come on Dougie play some ****ing D once in a while 3) WHY ARE YOU PULLING SCOTT WE ARE ONLY DOWN 0-4?!?

 

[Svechhammer]

Given the things that his sister publicly said about the team last year, if she's key to his head being on straight, we should have cut him when we had the chance.

 

[Anton Babchuk]

The whole “we made a better offer for Grubauer” narrative needs to stop. We only were better by 5 picks in the middle of the second round. There is not much value there and Colorado’s being in another conference was more valuable. If we really wanted Gru, we should have added more to the package...our second 4th round pick this year comes to mind. Was that really worth more than the difference between Gru and Mrazek? I got to say, I miss Karmanos already. At least he allowed the GM to spend some money occasionally to fix some personnel mistakes.

you really think the addition of a a meaningless 4th round pick would have been enough to convince washington to move grubaeur within the division?

 

[Joe McGrath]

He's played a few games here and there in the NHL since then. But mostly it was about how little faith I have in the Darling/Mrazek duo.

I think they’re going to suck too, but I know Ward/Hammond is a bottom 5 duo if they play their absolute best. There’s just zero upside there.

 

[Anton Babchuk]

Not to mention the lack of usual Canes moves to help Cap strapped teams. Francis for all his warts would have a few 2nd rounders by now. Hossa? The Jets dump?

FWIW the versteeg trade was in early september.

the jets/mason move was taking on a bunch of money to get a bottom six forward (who is arbitration eligible) and some meaningless picks. there was no teravainen there. i don't see how doing that would have helped us at all really. hossa still hasn't been traded.

and yet again the grubaeur/orpik move was one of those moves. they were willing to take on orpki's 4.5M in real salary to get grubaeur. why are we still pretending that offer didn't happen, then accusing the team of being cheap for not doing it?

 

[DougieSmash]

Does this mean we have to move his sister to Raleigh? Lol

maybe we should try her as a center because our offense sucks

 

[Drivebytrucker]

All you *******s that thought Francis should’ve traded for Mrazek last year got your wish.

**** me.

I thought Francis should have traded the 3rd and 4th round pick for Mrazek to be a 1 and 1A with Cam Ward last season because Darling sucked so bad.

It would have been an attempt to fix our goaltending short term to get us into the play-offs. It was a low risk move.

I don't condone signing Mrazek in free agency to be Scott Darling's back up.

 

[AD Skinner]

I hope to god darling has more than one sister if that's the case

 

[FlyingSquirrels]

Anyone thinking Dundon/Waddell could've fixed this mess by tossing heaps of money at THIS UFA class is wrong.
I'm OK with this patient approach which includes wanting to extract maximum value out of Faulk/Skinner.

As far as Mrazek, apparently I'm one of the few who thinks that this isn't a terrible signing. If Mrazek returns to his form of 2 years ago, this will be the steal of a lifetime. We flat out did not have many choices.

 

[Unsustainable]

Either the tandem works, and we are a wildcard team, or it fails and we are looking at Hughes.

 

[FlyingSquirrels]

Either the tandem works, and we are a wildcard team, or it fails and we are looking at Hughes.

Exactly. Although Ottawa (Colorado) is going to be brutal unless they do something and is a clear front runner for Hughes.