Lost in all the attention former Canes goalie Michael Leighton is receiving with the Flyers is that he'll be an unrestricted free agent in July.
Leighton signed a two-year contract with the Canes in June 2008 that pays him $600,000 a year. That's backup wages, and his opposite in the Stanley Cup finals, Chicago Blackhawks goalie Antti Niemi, is getting $827,000 (the Hawks' Cristobal Huet, who's sitting, is getting $5.625 million).
Leighton said a new contract is the least of his concerns now. "We're four wins away from winning the Stanley Cup," he said.
But his negotiating power is being enhanced greatly with a 6-1 record, 1.45 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in the playoffs. Win the Conn Smythe, and who knows what Leighton will be looking at.
The Canes still have yet to decide on a backup goaltender for Cam Ward next season, but it almost certainly will be either Justin Peters or Manny Legace.
Besides, Leighton's asking price may be too high.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at 
Comments
who cares?
Sat, 05/29/2010 - 09:07 — greg_98A hot sreak at the right time is what can make a career, without Cam ward hitting a hot streak in the canes cup run , where would he stand? Cam doesnt have "superstar"stats either. I am glad that leighton is useing the oppurtunity to show what he is capable of,regardless of how it ends he has proven he belongs Some of the other posts complained of his sreaky play.....ever seen a goalie that wasnt? hockey is a team game,he seems to do his part
Question is now, will we
Sat, 05/29/2010 - 23:45 — ctillQuestion is now, will we even see Leighton for the rest of the Cup finals.
Just adding my two cents. I
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 12:20 — Otag1Just adding my two cents. I have always liked Leighton, however he has always been streaky, as are most goalies. The best goaltenders are consistent night in and night out and he has not demonstrated this as of yet in his young career. The biggest concerns I always have had regarding his play has been Leighton's tendency to roam to far out of the net/crease trying to play the puck then getting out of position, he seems to have been working on this since going to Philly and he does not seem to be trying to offensively play the puck as of late. My other concerns with his play were his rebound control, when he starts giving these rebounds back up center ice and toward the faceoff circles look out, against the Canadians he did well to get the puck mostly off to the side boards and corners. With his size and style he has a tendency to have a gaping wide open 5 hole when going down to the ice, he can give up some softie goals this way and then he seems to get over concerned with the 5 hole, and thus he drops his shoulders opening up the blocker side and his glove side. Score once on him and it can lead to a number of quick goals. If Chicago can get the shots on goal they will get chances at second, third shots and good scoring chances. I am looking forward to this series, I believe it will be physical and close - most games decided by 1 goal.
while i had to smile
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 11:14 — esteban1949Charlotte's comments....anmd in truth CC has a point...but no matter how anyone feels about the guy personally or professinally...I am happy for the guy..and Lavi too but that orange tie...has got to go !!
The Canes are Good,My Grandkids are Better, and Life is Great !!
Go Canes !!
Leighton and Lavi a better fit
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 09:56 — Hockeydad92This guy has all the tools to be a solid NHL goalie, he has showed it at the AHL level and now at the NHL level with the hardware on the line. We mismanaged him when he played for Mo (who is a goalie killer in my book) and Lavi clearly sees more in him than we did. Goalies need the right D but also the right situation, system and coach, Leightion had that a few years back in the A and he has that now in Philly. Who knows next year? Same thing here in Carolina, if Peters comes up and sits all year and then gets dumped on the ice for a Cam injury we will all say how bad he looks etc etc, these guys need to play more at this age. Manny is older and has matured to the point where his mental game can handle long idle spells better and thus would be the better backup next saeson under the Mo system. If Leighton plays 25-30 games next year I think he does fine, any less and he looks like he did for us early this season.
"This age"? Leighton is 29
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 19:28 — imayagainknowanton"This age"? Leighton is 29 years old and was drafted 11 years ago.
Got to love the revisionist history going on here of this being some monumental mistake made by the Hurricanes instead of a back-up goalie catching lightning in a bottle. The guy has been on waivers at least a dozen times in his career. The same general manager who made the AMAZINGLY BRILLIANT MOVE of claiming Leighton (Holmgren) is the same GM who waived him three years ago.
Also about Laviolette's terrific goaltending management...wow, just wow. Cam Ward started 69 games the last time Laviolette was coach here.
Goalie Killer?
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 12:25 — sittler27How is he a better fit with Lavi? When he was here and played for Lavi he had a .900 save % and a 3.00 goals against average. The issue is that with his size and style he needs to stay in the paint. The Philly D allows him to do that and if you have read any of the Philly papers they are full of comments where both he and the goalie coaches credit this for his success. In Carolina we did (and do) not have anywhere near that quality of shut down D and Michael tried to do too much. He has a tendency to overcommit east to west and open up and that is when he gets picked apart. Rather than a better fit with Lavi, he is a much better fit with the Philly D personnel.
Please expand on what you mean that Mo is a "goalie killer"? Certainly his conservative strong back pressure style should actually cut down on the number of shots a goalie sees. If you mean it is because of the number of games he starts a goalie in the regular season then you need to look at the stats again: Lavi's three full seasons here were 05/06; 06/07; 07/08. He started Gerber 60 games in 05/06. Cam 60 times in 06/07 and 69 times in 07/08. In 07/08 was when Cam's back issues flared. So while I don't think either of them are goalie killers, you would have a better argument suggesting Lavi overworks his goalies.
Lastly, go back through all of Leighton's career through juniors and the ahl. He has had many mediocre regular season stats and then simply awesome stats in playoffs. It is those regular season stats that had Chicago, then Philly and then the Canes deem him expendable. Now he is back with Philly and no surprise.... he is doing great in the playoffs. But against teams not noted for their potent offense. Lets see how he does against Chicago's more high powered offense before we annoint him as the next coming of Marty. And maybe we should see if he can put together just one regular NHL level season of stellar numbers. He is a top shelf guy and I hope that this acually happens for him. But let's also be fair in our assessments, especially before labelling someone a "goalie killer"!
Go Leighton...
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 08:56 — Caniac5I have total respect for Leighton and I hope he lands a good deal.
People have stated how he looks good only because of the defense in front of him. I admit that a good defense can make a goalie look good but, a bad defense can make ANY goalie look bad.
So, for those of you that think Leighton is just riding a hot streak, I have seen many goalies do the same thing. (CAM!) And yes, I am a Caniac but let's put everything in the right prospective. It takes a TEAM to win...not just ONE person.
Who Cares?
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 08:32 — CharlotteCaniacLeighton wouldn't come back here even if we did have the cash to sign him. Not only that, I'm sure he is going to expect to be a starter now that he strung a few good games together.
I respect the fact that he goose-egged Montreal 3 times, but I don't recall him being overly challenged in any of those games. I am not ready to label him a superstar after a few games.
Look at PK Subban for instance. This kid came in and really played beyond his ability at this point in his career. Everyone went crazy over him. Then it was back to reality and he turned in to Sandis Ozolinsh out there taking chances and leaving his D-partner hung out to dry.
Over a body of work, Leighton is no better than any other backup in this league. It just so happens he is on a hot streak right now. Put a weak defense in front of him and he topples like a house of cards.