Canes Acquire Negotiation Rights to Darling

			2017 Season			2017	July 1st Status
To Carolina	Pos	Age	GP	Wins	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Scott Darling	G	28	32	18	40	$588k	0	UFA
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To Chicago	Pos	Age	GP	Goals	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
2017 3rd Round Draft Pick

Over the weekend, the Carolina Hurricanes opted to give themselves a head start on the negotiating process with goaltender Scott Darling, who is poised to be an unrestricted free agent in July.

The Blackhawks are going to be under the cap crunch again and Darling, who finished 33rd among all goalies in pool scoring in the 2017 season, will likely be looking for a raise from his bargain salary of under $600,000 last season and unrestricted free agency will allow him to do that.

If the Hurricanes can sign Darling to a deal for the upcoming season (and beyond), they will have plenty of options for the Golden Knights to pick from and they should come out of the expansion draft with two goalies that they can be confident in, but the discussion will be interesting to hear on who they decide to protect.

If Darling is a Hurricane goalie at the start of the 2018 season, his hockey pool value will likely start the season a little lower, since the comparison between the two teams doesn't favour the Hurricanes, but he will certainly give a good push to whoever is still left, if it isn't both Cam Ward or Eddie Lack around in training camp.