Minooka Meatball wrote:
Just curious, but is this a fancy way to say that Carruth is being released, period, or is there a potential issue with Darling?
"Chicago, Ill. The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that goaltender Mac Carruth has been released from his AHL contract and signed to a one-year NHL contract with the Blackhawks, which runs through the end of the 2015-16 National Hockey League season.
Carruth, 23, has posted a 0-2-1 record with a 3.32 goals-against average and .882 save percentage in six games with the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League this season; he has also collected a 12-7-2 record with a 2.30 GAA, .923 SV% and one shutout in 21 games with the Indy Fuel of the East Coast Hockey League before being recalled by Rockford on Jan. 22. Drafted by Chicago in the seventh round (191st overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft, Carruth has registered a 4-5-1 record in 16 career AHL games and a 0-1-0 mark in one 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs game; he holds a 39-39-10 record with six shutouts in 92 career ECHL contests."
It means they added him to the 50-man roster, which consists of active players and assignments who are eligible to play in the NHL. Some minor-league players are directly under contract with the minor-league teams and thus cannot be called up. We saw a similar situation with Daniel Paille, who was signed to the IceHogs, then released from the IceHogs to sign with the Rangers (who waived him a few days later anyway). Another instance was Chris Chelios, who spent most of the 2009-2010 season signed to the Chicago Wolves, then the affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, but then the Thrashers signed him late in the year to get him back on a 50-man roster by the deadline. The sentimentalist in me wanted Chelios to round out the 2010 defense instead of Nick Boynton.
This means that the Blackhawks are able to add him to the playoff roster (playoff-eligible players need to be on their teams' rosters by the trade deadline), but more likely it means that Michael Leighton, who has played well enough for Rockford on a two-way contract, is on the way out, and they need to have another goalie under contract just in case. I doubt Darling is going anywhere.
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Molly Lambert wrote:
The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.