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Report: Canes willing to trade any one of three goalies, including Ward

Washington Capitals v Carolina Hurricanes

RALEIGH, NC - DECEMBER 20: during their game at PNC Arena on December 20, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Capitals won 4-2. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Grant Halverson

The biggest goaltending domino in the trade deadline fell when Ryan Miller was traded on Friday, but the Carolina Hurricanes are probably hopeful that this beefs up what might have been a tepid market at the position. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that they’re willing to trade any one of three goalies Cam Ward, Anton Khudobin and Justin Peters by the trade deadline.

The three goalies present some very different value propositions.

Ward, 29: The big name of the three, Ward carries a $6.3 million cap hit that runs through the 2015-16 season. The last two campaigns have been particularly difficult for the netminder, as he’s dealt with injuries and inconsistency while Carolina floundered.

His recent play might damper his value (especially with that hefty contract), but Carolina can also ask for a little more value in return for a guy who has a Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup on his resume ... even if that happened many moons ago.

Khudobin, 27: The Hurricanes grabbed him as he was one of the league’s best-kept secrets (9-4-1 with a .920 save percentage in Boston last season) and onlookers have seen him play well even without Zdeno Chara patrolling his blueline. He’s likely to get a nice raise from his expiring $800K salary, although a team might target him as a Ben Bishop-type buy-low candidate.

At the same time, Khudobin echoes Bishop last season in having limited NHL experience, so GMs might be weary of paying whatever Carolina’s price may be for him.

Peters, 27: He’s quietly put together a very nice season after some up-and-down years as a Hurricanes goaltending prospect. Teams that focus on his nice .919 save percentage instead of his 7-9-4 record could very well grab a sneaky-good backup. Like Khudobin, Peters has an expiring contract.

As you can see, you can make an argument for or against each one of the Hurricanes’ potential trade target goalies. It may come down to what GM Jim Rutherford is asking for and which goalie(s) he truly wants to keep.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins