FanPost

Protect Eddie Lack

OK I’VE SEEN ENOUGH.

I’m going to go ahead and do what a lot of Carolina fans should do. Brace yourself, this may be difficult to hear. Carolina fans should look towards the February 28th trade deadline, as well as what players the Hurricanes should protect ahead of this June’s expansion draft.

It’s entirely possible that Carolina sneaks its way into the playoffs. Andrew put together a good read on exactly how the playoff race is shaking out. It doesn’t matter. If the Hurricanes do manage to qualify for postseason play, they’re getting housed early. Against the top five teams in the Eastern Conference Carolina is 4-8-1 this season with some ugly losses. Most recently Washington hung a 6-1 loss on the Hurricanes January 23rd, the fourth loss in what would be a five game skid.

They’ve won three straight against Philadelphia, Edmonton, and the Islanders. That doesn’t do anything for me. So I’m looking ahead. The Hurricanes have arguably the most difficult decision to make this offseason when it comes to which goalie to protect.

In the event Carolina ends up making a move for another goalie before the trade deadline, forget everything I’m about to say. It’s entirely possible that happens. Both Marc-Andre Fleury and Ben Bishop have expressed that they would be open to a trade.

If there is not a move before the deadline that drastically improves the Hurricanes goalie situation, I think it is crystal clear what Carolina should do when they are compiling their list of names that will be open for selection by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Protect Eddie Lack.

A month ago that may have seemed absurd. First the easy stuff. Lack is younger than Cam Ward by four years. The money is about the same. Ward’s contract will be a $3.3 million cap hit against the Hurricanes next season. Lack’s is owed $3 million in 2017-18.

Of course, none of this matters if there is a significant gap between the performance of the two goalies. There’s not. Cam Ward had a fantastic opportunity to cement himself as the netminder moving forward after this season, and he blew it. Plain and simple.

He’s average. He’s been average. He’ll stay average. Ward in net means that Carolina fans can look forward to more seasons of breaking down whether they can latch onto the eight seed. Don’t get me wrong, Ward’s not a bad goalie, but Carolina's not going to climb the ladder in the Eastern Conference with him.

Ward’s days of being an elite goalie are over. His 2.57 GAA this season is good for 23rd in the league among eligible goaltenders. Granted, Lack’s absence means he’s had to play more this season, but let’s face it. He’s a known entity. Cam Ward isn’t getting better.

I’m open to the possibility that Eddie Lack might get better. Or at least return to the goalie that Carolina decided was worth a 3rd and 7th round draft pick when they made a deal for him with Vancouver in 2015. In that season, at 27 years old, he produced a 2.45 GAA in 41 games with the Canucks. By comparison, Ward’s GAA was 2.40 that season.

I’m not even saying Lack is the future in net, in fact I know he’s not. This is simply a good opportunity for the Hurricanes to take a significant step in the right direction. Lack has returned after missing all but four games this season after a concussion. I feel Ward played himself off of the protected list in that time. In my opinion it would take a disastrous effort from Lack the rest of the season for him to not be retained. That said, Vegas may not even be interested in either goalie. We’ll learn a lot between now and the end of the season. But on February 6th, I’m certain of what I would do if I were Ron Francis.

Protect Eddie Lack.