The Carolina Hurricanes were expecting great things last season after a big summer, but goaltender Cam Ward showed that he was the backbone of his team as they struggled mightily after he suffered a season-ending injury.

One thing is for certain: when Ward plays, the Canes win. Carolina has only made the playoffs twice in the past ten years (2006 and 2009), but Ward still finished with a winning record as their keeper in 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

He also led them to long and surprising runs in the playoffs in 2006 and 2009, winning the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2006 while taking his sixth-seeded Canes to the third round in 2009.

Ward should be ready to go this year. If so, he should once again perform well and lead his team to a fairly successful season. The Hurricanes will likely be stuck near or at the bottom of a highly-competitive Metropolitan Division, but if Ward is in net, they have a chance to do some damage.

While he is a very talented goaltender and certainly possesses the ability to take over games, Cam Ward may not be the best option as the #1 starting goaltender for your fantasy team.

Nothing against Ward’s personal ability, but Carolina’s defense is very shaky and will face a plethora of high-scoring opponents.

Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, and both New York teams are loaded with scorers who could skew Ward’s numbers in a negative way.

He will be playing a huge chunk of this season’s games against names like Claude Giroux, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, John Tavares, and Rick Nash, among many others.

With the defense that the Hurricanes have and the offense that many of their division rivals have, even the best goaltender in the world would have plenty of trouble.

Ward could play out of his mind and be a big surprise, but don’t bank on it. He will be constantly facing all sorts of shots from some of the most prolific scorers in the NHL, and his fantasy numbers will likely take a toll because of it.