It's Go Time

[Hanna Sniper]

‘Canes acquire Semyon Varlamov

Raleigh, NC – Carolina Hurricanes General Manager Hanna Sniper announced Thursday the acquisition of goaltender Semyon Varlamov from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 17th overall selection in the 2011 CPHL Entry Draft, forward Eric Fehr, defencemen Michael Del Zotto and prospect Jared Knight

Varlamov appeared in 3 games for the CPHL Wild last season with a .915 PCT and a 2.18 GGA

“Semyon was a player we have been chasing for a long time now, and when we got word today that the Wild were considering moving him, we pounced on the opportunity" commented Hanna to a room full of local media. "It was no secret that we needed a goalie, but we had no interest in journeyman goalies, we only had a small select list.”

“Semyon has some tome before he’ll be a legitimate No.1 goalie in the CPHL, but we haven’t see a goalie with this pedigree come around since Dan Blackburn" added Hanna.

“I think that what we wanted to do is what we did, to identify, which we did prior when we added goaltending prospect Jack Campbell and now todays move solidifies it.”

Thanks for Grant for making this a very quick transaction. I paid a lot but I didn’t want to let this opportunity get away as I knew right now I valued Varlamov more then the rest of the league

Also Hurricanes acquired the honourable Daniel Carcillo from the Stanley Cup finalist St. Louis Blues for a trio of picks from the 3rd round to the 5th

[JiriHrdina]

As always it was a quick trade with Doug - when he offers you something it is always serious out of the gate. A quick tweek and we were done.

I like Semyon but the three headed goalie monster in Washington was becoming frustrating. Now that I've traded him he will surely become a clear #1 - just like Pekka Rinne did.

This signals that our future in net rests with Corey Schneider - we are still going to have to work on getting a #1 for this year but he'll be a good back-up.

In the meantime we add a number of things we like
Fehr will slide in nicely on our fourth line.
Delzotto had a step back last year but still has buckets of upside which is what we look for.
The 1st gives us four in the 1st round which is really nice
And we think Jared Knight could be one of the big long-term pieces of this deal. We see him as a 2nd liner in the NHL long-term.

[Da_Chief]

Good deal if Varlamov sticks around or gets his job back. Thats a BIG IF though.

[Hanna Sniper]

100% agree, thats why I threw in my Danny Blackburn reference. I thought he was going to be the greatest goalie in todays game.

I "believe" I have the two best under 23 goalies in the game. I now feel I no longer NEED to acquire a goaltender but rather fill in the gaps till they sprout. If I'm wrong about my assessment of their potentials (which is very likely in the odds of life) then I'll be just as equally wrong about other goalies

At the end of the day, Salo, Tugnut, LeClaire, Huet Aebischer... It time I bring in someone that can take over the position. Goalies are way over-rated position in hockey and there are only a small handful elite ones in the NHL. You can't spread a handful throughout a 30 team league