Today it was announced that Eddie Lack had sustained a concussion in practice and that the Carolina Hurricanes had recalled Michael Leighton on an emergency basis.
First, here is hoping that Eddie Lack recovers quickly and is back on the ice. Nothing in hoping for the Hurricanes to improve ever includes wishing physical harm upon any Canes players.
My original call to give Michael Leighton an NHL start
On October 31, I already wrote the article making the case to give Michael Leighton a start. At the time, Cam Ward was just coming out of his slow start. He had played well in the home opener on the previous Friday but then struggled again in the 4-3 home loss to the Flyers on Sunday. And the Hurricanes also had a back-to-back set coming up on Saturday and Sunday that could have been a chance to give Leighton a look.
An update on the Hurricanes goaltending situation
The situation is much less dire now with Ward clicking through a nicely-spaced run of home games and playing well, but Ward is not going to play out the string through 65 more games. In addition, the Hurricanes face a busy stretch of schedule with 3 back-to-back sets and 10 games total in the next 17 days. Meanwhile, Leighton really has not cooled off despite the Checkers struggling a bit of late. He has lost a few games, but his goals against average and save percentage sit at an impressive 1.66 and .937 respectively.
While Ward has seized the starting job and is playing really well, the Hurricanes still need a backup. Is it possible that Eddie Lack will find his way and be that guy? Sure. But is it also possible that a red hot veteran’s swan song could also be parlayed into some wins for the Hurricanes? I would not rule it out.
If I was coach…
I basically stand by my original assertion that the potential upside far outweighs the potential downside of giving Michael Leighton a single start and seeing where it leads. At a simpler level, the Canes need to give Ward a night off here and there anyway, and the upcoming schedule is exactly 1 of those situations. The Hurricanes have a busy 4-game week with games on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday with travel before each game. I think that Leighton will get 1 of the 2 weekend starts and would do exactly that if I was Bill Peters.
A possible restart for Eddie Lack
There is another more subtle silver lining here too. With the injury to Eddie Lack, it should now be possible to send him to Charlotte on a conditioning assignment when he is again ready to play. This situation is the best of all worlds. It would not need to be portrayed as a demotion that could damage his confidence. He, very simply, needs some game action anyway and even more so if he is on the shelf even for practicing. And as an conditioning stint, he would not need to go across waivers.
Look for Michael Leighton to get a start on either Saturday or Sunday (more likely Saturday) with the chance to earn 1-2 more (the other back-to-backs coming up soon) if he plays well. Also look for Eddie Lack’s next to starts to be for the Charlotte Checkers as he tries to relaunch for 2016-17 coming off his injury.
Go Canes!
What are the particulars of being called up on an “Emergency Basis”? I believe being called up on those conditions allows the Canes to send him back down without going through waivers, but can he actually start a game while called up on “Emergency”, or can he only appear in relief?
An emergency recall means the player can be re-assigned to the AHL without going through waivers provided he has played fewer than 10 NHL games. The emergency recall is available to ensure a team has at least two goalies, 6 D-men, and 12-F. The player – if a goalie – can start games, come in as relief, or enjoy the view from the bench.
Matt – my understanding of the CBA (which is not extensive) is that once Eddie is off the I/R, the “emergency” is over and Leighton needs to be returned to Charlotte. I am not sure that Eddie can come off the I/R, be sent down to Charlotte on a conditioning stint while retaining Leighton with the Canes on an emergency recall basis. That is something to look into.
Not sure either. It seems reasonable that Lack would be eligible for a conditioning start or 2 in Charlotte, but I am not sure on specifics of what is allowed with emergency call ups and also conditioning stints after injury.
I actually just perused the CBA – it really only talks about the termination of emergency conditions (which in this case would the return of the injured goalie to bring the team back up to two). The CBA doesn’t seem to provide for a conditioning stint for the returned goalie although I think it makes sense.
I just sent a #tweetmail question in – we’ll see if Michael Smith can come up with the answer.
Hope Lack does get better soon, those concussions are no joke. That said, from a player development perspective, with Lack on the shelf and Leighton in Raleigh, this is a great opportunity to give Nedeljkovic some extended run to try and get his professional feet under him.
I hope Lack gets well and wish him the best. Assuming he gets well, this can be a blessing for him if he gets a conditioning stint in Charlotte. He could go down and play lights out gaining confidence and getting back into stride like the old Lack of Vancouver days. Then back up and really help us get to the playoffs.
Glad to see Leighton here, and hope he gets MORE THAN ONE GAME TO SHOW HIS STUFF!
W/o two capable keepers this team is not in the P-off Picture.