Cam Ward or Anti Raanta?

[ShawneePanthers]

Team and league in sig - no salary cap and we keep 20 from year to year (no farm).

Please give reasons and I'll offer rep. A lot of guys say things like "XXX and it's not even close" or "XXX by a mile" without reasons.

The most common arguments I hear for both players:

Cam Ward:
Pros- bounceback candidate, previous starting goalie
Cons - aging, Carolina sucks, Khudobin is simply better at this stage


Raanta:
Pros - Slightly younger, Chicago rocks, could steal starts from Crawford
Cons - Had a terrible 2nd half last season, and chicago has some better, younger guys in the pipeline who could push him out




Your opinions, and any additional insights to help me make this decision?

[ztking]

Ward. I would rather take a flyer that he bounces back and ends up as a starter. There is no way Raanta ends up a starter or steals enough starts to make it worthwhile in my opinion. Unless you have Crawford and want the handcuff I guess I can see that. Both have very similar floors, but Ward has the chance to be a starter and that is why he is worth more. Carolina is going to go into the season with him as the number one, and although he has a fairly short leash, its tough to justify paying a guy over 6 million and barely playing him.

[Rehdaun]

Ward over Raanta. Ward still has a chance to be the starter. Raanta will have to wait until Crawford gets hurt. Pick Ward for now. Unless you have some "no add/drops" clause then you can always drop him if he falters.

[RememberRobitaille]

If this is a H2H league, I'm actually preferring Raanta here. You have Fleury and Mason, so you won't be hurting for goalie starts. Raanta should help you a lot more in GAA and SV% than Ward will, and since it's H2H you can spot start him strategically while giving the bulk of your games to your #1 and #2 guys.

But if this is a Roto league, I like Ward better. Take the three starters and get in as many games as you can, loading up on saves, wins and SOs, and hope that Ward can at least hang onto a 1A/1B situation without being horrible.

[ShawneePanthers]

Thanks everyone, rep given.

Right now, I'm still undecided but more on RememberRobataille's side of the fence. I don't need quantity as much as I need quality, and simply by virtue of being on the better team, Raanta's starts will have more quality (probably, unless he starts to suck like he did in the second half of last season).

[ztking]

Keep this in mind:
Raanta NHL career (last season for a phenomenal team):
2.71GAA 0.897SV%

I have a very hard time believing Raanta will help you in the GAA and SV% more than Ward. Again, Ward has been an elite goalie and has a much better chance at posting those numbers even if he has been trending down. Nothing about Raanta says elite or that he has the opportunity to put up great numbers.