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The Carolina Hurricanes acquired James Reimer from the Florida Panthers for Scott Darling in a swap of goaltenders on Sunday.
Florida immediately placed Darling on waivers with the intention to buy out the remaining two years of his contract. The Panthers also geta sixth-round pick in the 2020 draft in the exchange, made a day before the start of the NHL’s free-agent signing period.
Reimer helps address the Hurricanes’ immediate need at goalie with co-starters Petr Mrzaek and Curtis McElhinney eligible to become unrestricted free agents on Monday.
The 31-year-old Reimer had a 13-12-5 record and a .900 save percentage in 36 games with the Panthers last season. Overall, Reimer has a 144-120-19 record in 338 games, including stops in Toronto and San Jose.
For Florida, the trade amounted to the team freeing up space under the salary cap in dealing Reimer and buying out Darling’s contract. The Panthers do have a need at goalie with Roberto Luongo retiring after 19 seasons on Wednesday. Florida, however, is considered the front-runner to sign Columbus starter Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency.
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The 30-year-old Darling had a 2-4-2 record in his second season with Carolina last year. He was unhappy over being demoted to the American Hockey League and had been granted a leave of absence in February. He has five years of experience and a 54-42-18 record in 126 games with Carolina and Chicago.
OILERS: The Edmonton Oilers will have a little extra money to work with when free agency opens after placing defenceman Andrej Sekera on unconditional waivers for the purpose of buying out the final two years of his contract. Sekera signed a six-year, $33-million deal (all dollars U.S.) with the Oilers as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2015. According to capfriendly.com, the move gives Edmonton an extra $3 million in cap space this year and next heading into free agency. The Oilers will pay Sekera $1.5 million each of the next four years. The 33-year-old has been limited to just 60 combined games over the last two seasons because of injury, registering a total of 12 assists. A third-round pick by the Sabres in 2004, Sekera has 45 goals and 236 points in 707 career regular-season game with Buffalo and Edmonton. He’s added four points (two goals, two assists) in 19 playoff outings.