After the seasons in which he pretty much carried us,this team would never had made the playoffs without his goaltending...We have been laughably outshot almost every season for the last 5 ...And we could easily replace what he has brought to us on a 2 year deal with just anyone right??
I never said we could replace him with anyone, and I wasn’t against re-signing him. I agree with you that the options for other goalies in free agency aren’t great. No question about that. Here’s what I didn’t like about the deal when it was announced.
1. Timing. Why did it need to be done before the season started? Why not go into the season and see how he plays before extending him? Even just wait a couple of months. If they had done that maybe they trade him, maybe they keep him and maybe he gets a different deal. Less term, less money or maybe both. He would not have been bargaining from a position of strength.
2. Term. Why two years? One year is fine, but why two? He’s 37 years old. It’s not unreasonable to think he might not be as good as he gets older. He may lose some lateral mobility for example if he hasn’t already. How many goalies can you think of that played at a high level into their late 30’s? And if you want to name hall of famers, fine, but Anderson is not a hall of famer.
I don’t really want to keep going back and forth with on you in this, so I’ll leave you with one final thought.
Right now no one can say whether this is a good or bad deal because the extension hasn’t started yet. We can debate whether we like it right now or not, or liked it back when it was announced, but all it comes down to is how Craig Anderson plays the next two seasons. If he gives us above average goaltending, I’m happy and will gladly admit I was wrong. If he gives us below average goaltending, I won’t be happy.