Cam Ward Signs $37 Million Deal with Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes have signed up Cam Ward for a total of six more years. A $37.8 million contract was signed by the Hurricanes on Wednesday, securing the position of goaltender Cam Ward starting the forthcoming season and proceeding through to 2015 and 2016. The goalie, who’s already on his fifth year, can expect an average annual income of $6.3 million through the new contract. For this season, he is expected to earn $3.5 million, as stipulated in his current contract which has been signed in 2007. The contract will expire after this season, and with the new deal already sealed, Ward is no longer a restricted free agent. Ward has said that he feels all the more pressured to give out his best performance as a goaltender, especially now with his new salary. But he says that the pressure is no longer new to him, and that the very reason why he wanted to play as a goaltender was because he wanted to deal with and play up to the pressure. For the previous season, the 25-year-old goaltender has allowed 2.44 goals on average. He was also known to lead the Hurricanes to continuous road victories, in the Game 7s both in Boston and New Jersey and in helping the team participate in the Eastern Conference finals. Two days before the Carolina Hurricanes opened the regular season, the deal was already announced, making Ward the second young star in a span of two years to sign a long-term contract before the season has begun. Twenty-four year old Eric Staal, who is an All-Star center, also signed a $57 million deal for seven years in September, with the contract taking effect this year and lasting until the 2015 to 2016 season. General manager Jim Rutherford has been quoted as saying that, in sports, things could get unpredictable, with the team not knowing whether the year will be a good one or something else. But having the two star players on board, the team can manage to turn things around, no matter how terrible the season can get. While Ward has been seen with the franchise for a long time, he was first spotted as a rookie 3 years ago in 2006 when he won the MVP award for the playoffs, and steering the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup. Rutherford recalls the day when Ward first participated in the team’s training camp. “Beginning that first day, we always knew that Cam was something else, especially after seeing how strong he was on the field. We knew that after some time, he would develop into a commendable player.” Rutherford also added that even during Ward’s first year, it was clear from the first season that he was the goalie the franchise needed for a considerable time.