Confirmed with Link: Craig Anderson signs 2-year extension with Senators

[Micklebot]

Ok found that. It is only showing my post from today though.

I think it searches the thread you are in, so back out to the Sens thread index page and search from there,

 

[Cosmix]

Turris walking won't be about short term money.

I'd guess we trade Condon next off season once his raise kicks in and promote one of Driedger or Hogberg. We're paying about 4.9M in real money for goaltending this year, We'd be paying 8M next year if we keep both Anderson and Condon. If we go with Anderson+Hogberg, it'd be closer to 6M which is only about 1M more than we're paying now.

I am glad to see Anderson signed for two more years after this coming season because he is our best tender at this time; however, paying $8M next year for 2 goaltenders seems too high to me, so I agree that a trade may be in the future. It does seem strange that Anderson is being paid such a high amount given his age and high potential to decline due to aging.

 

[Knave]

Goalies have weird trajectories. Dwayne Roloson managed respectful numbers until he hit 40. Brodeur and Hasek went into their 40s. Roy retired in his late 30s.

Belfour, Joseph, Thomas, Khabibulin are all guys who played into their 40s with a decent variety in career paths. Who knows how much further Thomas would have gone if he didn't take a year off to hide in a bunker with his family.

It's not a no risk gamble but it's hardly like we're signing a skater where you will clearly see the decline in their mid/late 30s (even in a guy like Jagr). Anderson looked as great as he ever was.

 

[BigRig4]

Love the signing - I feel like goalie more than any other position is one where the mental side is most important, and n0t having to worry about it being your contract year will help keep his mind clear and focused on being a beast again this year

 

[L'Aveuglette]

Andy hasn't shown any signs of decline, quite the opposite, so I can't find any fault in this extension. Seems fair to me.

 

[Shruggs Peterson]

I am glad to see Anderson signed for two more years after this coming season because he is our best tender at this time; however, paying $8M next year for 2 goaltenders seems too high to me, so I agree that a trade may be in the future. It does seem strange that Anderson is being paid such a high amount given his age and high potential to decline due to aging.

It's not terribly out of the ordinary though. I'd like to see a split of around 50/32 this upcoming season so I think in terms of usage and cap hit, the Sens are better off that other comparable teams. Dallas even with getting Bishop this year still has close to 11mil locked up with Lehtonen still on the payroll, and I'd take Anderson and Condon at 8 mil over that duo. The Islanders have about 8 mil locked up this year in Halak and Greiss and again, I'm taking Anderson and Condon over those two for the same cap hit. Florida and Carolina is the same situation with Luongo (now 38) /Reimer and Darling/Ward.

So while I'd also like to see a trade if Hogberg continues to look good, the Sens spending 8 mil in goalies is fine by me. I like the extension.

 

[Healfezza]

I see quite a few people complaining about the timing of the signing. They want us to wait through the season to see how he does and evaluate towards the end of the season if we want to extend him based on performance. This is where "armchair GM" thinking comes into play. On paper this type of move is logical and makes sense if all other factors remain the same.

Yet we all need to remember, players are HUMAN. Front office is HUMAN. We work with humans and as such we can't treat our players strictly like commodities. Establishing, building, and maintaining relationships is extremely important.

On a human level we sign Anderson early, rather than waiting. It provides him safety, security, and peace of mind. It will make him better on the ice. In kind we get a sweetheart deal, only 2 years on term and a decent price. Sure we could wait 6 months but it could make Andy play worse or sour his relationship with management.

Remember that moves like this look like they could be managed better on the "chess board", but realistically the organization needs to deal with their players and reputation on a human level.

I feel that Ottawa is getting a reputation for rewarding the players that help them succeed. Sometimes it means we don't do things the most efficiently, but it could make the difference between elite talent wanting to be in Ottawa.

 

[salomonster]

The aging goalie argument has not legs here. Andy has only played some 300 and change games, he was mostly a back up before his time with the Avs and Sens.

He's a playoff performer and Condon is a good partner.

Give Andy as many games as he wants, lets say up to 60. Condo gets the rest.

This is a playoff team with these guys.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

This is a nice deal for both parties.

For the Senators, year two is a pittance.

For Anderson, its two years.

 

[DrEasy]

I am ok with this deal, even if it's risky. It's the Condon deal that I didn't like at the time, and this signing confirms it: we're paying way too much for a backup goalie, where the money could have been allocated to something else instead.

The goalie position was where we were doing great budget-wise, and for a budget team we need some positions where we're getting value. The Anderson-Condon tandem is no longer a value proposition, it is merely market value at best now.

 

[Benjamin]

This is important for Senators Culture. Added depth to the Senators history. Anderson is THE Ottawa Goaltender. He's the goalie that stopped the constant juggling of scrubby goalies for the past decade.

It doesn't feel like it yet but he's a long term Senator

 

[BonkTastic]

This is important for Senators Culture. Added depth to the Senators history. Anderson is THE Ottawa Goaltender. He's the goalie that stopped the constant juggling of scrubby goalies for the past decade.

It doesn't feel like it yet but he's a long term Senator

Yep.

He's the best goalie in Senators history. Period. Full stop.

 

[The Lewler]

This is important for Senators Culture. Added depth to the Senators history. Anderson is THE Ottawa Goaltender. He's the goalie that stopped the constant juggling of scrubby goalies for the past decade.

It doesn't feel like it yet but he's a long term Senator

Just look at Calgary right now. That's what Ottawa used to be like.

Calgary hasn't had a #1 since Kipper left and it's a gong show.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Maybe it's a coincidence, but a really interesting part of this deal is that Anderson's cap hit from his previous contract was 4.2M. If you add in Anderson's salary this year which is 3.1M to the two year extension and average it out, it averages out to 4.2M.

Makes me think Anderson only making 3.1M this year might have been a factor in this extension. The 5.5M year balances out the 3.1M one he is currently playing.

 

[mat_sens]

I think the thing that frustrates me the more is that Condon was signed to 3 years. IMO Hogberg will be ready for backup duty next year and would have been nice to have Andy mentor him during these 2 years (or at least the last year of his contract).

I hope they let Hogberg see big minutes in Belleville this year, but it's looking like a backlog with 4 goalies down there now.

 

[Benjamin]

I think the thing that frustrates me the more is that Condon was signed to 3 years. IMO Hogberg will be ready for backup duty next year and would have been nice to have Andy mentor him during these 2 years (or at least the last year of his contract).

I hope they let Hogberg see big minutes in Belleville this year, but it's looking like a backlog with 4 goalies down there now.

We can't risk having Andy push 65 games three years a row. We need the stability.

Andy will have Condon biting his feet.

Condon will have Hogberg biting his feet.

I also don't want to just assume Hogberg will be good enough to be a backup.

2.4mil vs No reliable back up/Andy playing 60-70 games.

Think about how many teams would love our goaltending situation.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Lol, such a premature extension. Stupid.

 

[Xspyrit]

I don't think any team relied more on goaltenders in last year's playoffs than the Ottawa Senators did.

I dunno. I found the team as a whole is what allowed them to have success. Sens were more opportunistic than the Bruins or Rangers, they came up huge in key moments (ex : Bobby Ryan). No goalie really stood on his head in those 2 series, it was really not a deciding factor.

Yet their teams were out before we were.

Who cares about the number of bad goals?

I don't like bad goals more than the next guy, but to say he had a bad playoff and then say others who we beat were better, is just complaining to complain.

I never said he had "bad playoffs" though. I think he had good playoffs because of some very good games. He was also really not helping in some other games, but overall good enough to allow his team to go that far, obviously.

Well.... Lund and Rask also didn't make nearly as many game saving saves as Andy, which is why, you know, they lost.

Melnyk will increase spending along with the core as he has over the last few years. I thought by now the fear-mongerers would have taken a break since we have continued to sign everyone we wanted and the budget has grown each year. Sadly there ares still some staunch holdouts

Everybody knows I am really not the kind to complain for the sake of complaining. What I am saying is that Dorion worries me. He spends like a mad-man, like he wants to keep everybody and give everybody a raise to make them happy, but this team has a budget and even if Melnyk finally agrees to spend to the cap, there's the salary cap after.

I have no problem with Andy's contract, he deserves it... but why is Condon making so much money for so long?

Condon is a decent back-up but IMO another overrated goalie (pedestrian numbers, was really good for a stretch, and then really bad). Just like when I was saying that Hammond was not a good NHL quality goaltender, right in the middle of his "miracle run". I never had much faith in Ray Emery too.I lost faith quickly in Elliott. Always had faith in Andy, him and Hasek are the only 2 Sens goalies I really trusted.

I might not be a pro but I am a goalie so maybe I know more about the subject that I know about skaters.

 

[Tuna99]

Lol, such a premature extension. Stupid.

Not at all. Dorion has lots of negotiating to do - and Andy sets an example for Turris and Stone that he left money of the table to be on the team. Dorion needs to get Turriaand Stone done still so lots of work and getting Andy done is another thing checked off the list, not to mention we’ll sign 1 of Wideman, Oduya or Borocop.

 

[Baby Ryan]

Sure, why not.

Don't mind it at all, think he can keep up a good enough level of play. If the defense can grow stronger each season and two-way play of forwards, it will greatly help mask any potential wearing issues.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Would have preferred a 1 year deal tbh.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

Same usual suspects will hate this deal.

I like it, it's a 2 year deal, doesn't handcuff us at all. This is below average for a goalie like Anderson.

He hasn't shown any signs of declining, not sure where people are getting that worry from.

I don't have any issues with money or term, and I'm usually a pretty positive poster; it's just that I feel like it's an unnecessary risk signing him before the season. Why not sign him mid-year instead? Avoiding unnecessary risks should be a GM's priority, and we just jumped into one with two feet.

I think everything will be fine, but it's still unnecessary.

 

[BatherSeason]

I am ok with this deal, even if it's risky. It's the Condon deal that I didn't like at the time, and this signing confirms it: we're paying way too much for a backup goalie, where the money could have been allocated to something else instead.

The goalie position was where we were doing great budget-wise, and for a budget team we need some positions where we're getting value. The Anderson-Condon tandem is no longer a value proposition, it is merely market value at best now.

This organization didn't learn from their mistake of rewarding a backup goalie based on half of a season's work. Hopefully Condon plays well because if not, that contract is untradeable and we are stuck with Andrew Hammond 2.0 for 3 years.

 

[Smash88]

I don't have any issues with money or term, and I'm usually a pretty positive poster; it's just that I feel like it's an unnecessary risk signing him before the season. Why not sign him mid-year instead? Avoiding unnecessary risks should be a GM's priority, and we just jumped into one with two feet.

I think everything will be fine, but it's still unnecessary.

Probably because Anderson's camp said they wouldn't want to talk contract during the season and would only re-open the talks at the end of the season. Then he would be able to hear of offers from other teams.

If he has a good year (which management thinks he will), that's a problem for us.

 

[Smash88]

This organization didn't learn from their mistake of rewarding a backup goalie based on half of a season's work. Hopefully Condon plays well because if not, that contract is untradeable and we are stuck with Andrew Hammond 2.0 for 3 years.

If they don't sign him he goes to Toronto. I'm sure that would of went over well around here.

I'm not a fan of Condon's deal, but I completely understand why it was made.