Grahame waived

There's not much Rutherford can do about injuries but he did make one notable decision Thursday, putting veteran goalie John Grahame on waivers and recalling netminder Michael Leighton from Albany of the AHL.

Grahame is earning US$1.4 million this season and will be an unrestricted free agent July 1.

— The Canadian Press

Carolina's goaltending has been hideous this season, but in that they've got company in the Southeast Division. The only team there with a save percentage over .900 is the Panthers, who have quietly gotten great mileage out of Tomas Vokoun this season.

The Hurricanes are third worst in the NHL at .890, and you can't make the playoffs with numbers like that.

Grahame's figure is .875, which really isn't NHL calibre, but this move is just as much about giving Leighton a shot given how well he's played in the AHL this season.

Where he's been the worst is when his team's killing a penalty, as Grahame has the worst goals against average down a man (11.00) of any netminder that's played 10 games this season.
Grahame's save percentage at 4-on-5 is .704; Cam Ward's is .810, which is quite a bit closer to being reasonable.

Leighton, meanwhile, has a .928 save percentage in the minors so far.