Hurricanes coach Peters wants 'clear-cut, No. 1 goalie'; will base decision on preseason play
The Carolina Hurricanes will apparently allow Anton Khudobin and Cam Ward to battle it out during training camp for the right to be the club's "clear-cut, No.1 goalie."
From the Raleigh News & Observer via Pro Hockey Talk:
(Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters) said he’d like to have a clear-cut No. 1 goalie, someone who could handle a 60-game workload. Ward and Khudobin, he said, have seven exhibition games to settle that issue before the Oct. 10 season-opener against the New York Islanders.
"Let them compete," Peters said of how he plans to handle his goaltending tandem during the preseason. "Seven exhibition games - everyone’s going to play, everyone’s going to have an equal opportunity to show how good they are and how ready they are to start the year on time."
Even if Peters' claim that he'll make a decision on his workhorse starter based on Khudobin and Ward's play over a small sample of exhibition games isn't entirely genuine, there are many interesting layers to this particular training camp battle.
For example, Khudobin and Ward's contract status'. Both members of Carolina's goaltending platoon are signed - for this season and next - to one-way NHL contracts. Though the term remaining on their deals is identical, Khudobin will make an average of $2.25 million in actual salary over the next two years, while Ward will make an average of $6.3 million per year.
Considering how much more Ward is paid, that Peters is open to the possibility of making the former Conn Smythe trophy winner a 22-game per season backup speaks volumes about his recent performance.
The oft-injured Ward has struggled over the past five years, though he's still managed a decent .924 even-strength save percentage since 2009. The problem for the veteran puck-stopper is that Khudobin might be really, really good. Since 2009, the journeyman netminder has managed a .932 even-strength save percentage - the second best mark in the league during that time frame behind only Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask.
However this plays out, it will make for a fascinating training camp and maybe one of the most interesting training camp battles in the NHL this fall.
[H/T Pro Hockey Talk]