Rumor: Craig Anderson: grumpy old man edition

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I still say that the correct move would have been to tell Lehner to put his big boy pants in and do his time in Bingo while Anderson and Bishop played for us in the NHL.
I said it back then, and still maintain that should have been the way to go. It might have given Lehner an opportunity to mature mentally.

I agree, that would have been the right thing to do imo as well.

In hindsight though, Lehner just isn't that good and he appears to have been overconfident in himself.

 

[otown]

I would like tosee Anderson be "lights out" this season so that his stock will rise and then put him on the block for a half decent return.
However with a much younger inexperienced team, he will be seeing lots of rubber and could be grumpier than ever!

 

[Caeldan]

I would like tosee Anderson be "lights out" this season so that his stock will rise and then put him on the block for a half decent return.
However with a much younger inexperienced team, he will be seeing lots of rubber and could be grumpier than ever!

Honestly if he's playing lights out hockey and we're at least playing at the average level this team is capable of, we're fighting for a playoff spot in our division and he's nowhere near a trading block.

 

[otown]

Honestly if he's playing lights out hockey and we're at least playing at the average level this team is capable of, we're fighting for a playoff spot in our division and he's nowhere near a trading block.

Hope you are right in relation to playing for a playoff spot but that would have been like Jason Spezza taking the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup!

 

[robsenz]

If we had any interest in Lehner, he was a UFA this past offseason and basically a free asset. We didn't even blink.

I have zero regrets about trading Lehner. None. It was the right move.

I'd have liked to keep Bishop, though... If hindsight is 20/20, the correct move in 2013 would have been to trade Lehner, and keep an Andy-Bishop 1a-1b combo. Obviously, you can only say that with the benefit of hindsight. At the time, the Bishop trade made total sense.

I remember watching some training camp footage and the professionalism and discipline Bishop showed far exceeded Lehner by a long shot, I remember seeing some games from Lehner in the O that made me question him, Such a shame...I think Bishop could have been our #1 if we kept him. Regardless of all that Anderson has been awesome, and it's hard to imagine having a better goalie for our team over these past few years (excluding last season of course).

 

[topshelf15]

I remember watching some training camp footage and the professionalism and discipline Bishop showed far exceeded Lehner by a long shot, I remember seeing some games from Lehner in the O that made me question him, Such a shame...I think Bishop could have been our #1 if we kept him. Regardless of all that Anderson has been awesome, and it's hard to imagine having a better goalie for our team over these past few years (excluding last season of course).

Biggest issue for Lehner was his head...BM called it when he wanted him to play a full season in the AHL to develop his conditioning and routine into becoming a 65 game workhorse starter....Lehner cried and got his way and stayed with the big club,and has never been healthy enough to be anything more than a spot starter to this very day...Like Cowen sometimes the player is too dumb to realise when they are wrong

 

[danielpalfredsson]

It was Bishop vs Anderson, not Bishop vs Lehner.

At the time, Anderson was still in his prime considering goalies tend to play at later ages. He was the first stable goalie we had since Lalime. Bishop was still relatively unproven as a full time starter.

Bishop would have had to be willing to sign an extension prior to the TDL because if he did not get enough starts here he would have become a UFA. We don't know if he would have been willing to extend here with Anderson in the picture. He probably wanted to go somewhere that he'd get an opportunity to start.

We almost got Couturier from PHI for Bishop. Instead, we got what was supposed to be a good young forward in Conacher who helped add a bit of scoring down the stretch to get us into the playoffs. Unfortunately, that good young forward wasn't as good as we thought he'd be long term.

With the benefit of hindsight, keeping Bishop and dealing Anderson would have been better. But at the time, keeping Anderson and using Bishop to get help up front made sense considering that I doubt keeping both was a viable solution.

 

[Viletho]

It was Bishop vs Anderson, not Bishop vs Lehner.

At the time, Anderson was still in his prime considering goalies tend to play at later ages. He was the first stable goalie we had since Lalime. Bishop was still relatively unproven as a full time starter.

Bishop would have had to be willing to sign an extension prior to the TDL because if he did not get enough starts here he would have become a UFA. We don't know if he would have been willing to extend here with Anderson in the picture. He probably wanted to go somewhere that he'd get an opportunity to start.

We almost got Couturier from PHI for Bishop. Instead, we got what was supposed to be a good young forward in Conacher who helped add a bit of scoring down the stretch to get us into the playoffs. Unfortunately, that good young forward wasn't as good as we thought he'd be long term.

With the benefit of hindsight, keeping Bishop and dealing Anderson would have been better. But at the time, keeping Anderson and using Bishop to get help up front made sense considering that I doubt keeping both was a viable solution.

Wasn't Anderson having a career year and front runner for the vezina that year before he got injured?

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Wasn't Anderson having a career year and front runner for the vezina that year before he got injured?

The same year we traded Bishop, Anderson was the best goalie in the league prior to getting hurt. He wasn't that old, was on a very good contract, and was coming off a run where he played an average of 62 games per season over his previous three seasons, so the criticism he has now of not being able to handle a big workload (which is why we kept Condon apparently) was not yet there.

It pretty much made no sense to trade Anderson at that point. Bishop was going to be around for longer, sure, but we had one of the top goalie prospects in the league in Lehner. Given that Bishop was unproven as a 60 game starter, ditching Anderson at the peak of his career to keep Bishop would have made no sense.

While I think Anderson is the better big game goalie, Bishop is still in his prime and with the benefit of hindsight would have been the better choice long term since we now know Lehner flamed out as Anderson's eventual replacement and Bishop has cemented himself as a dependable starter. Still doesn't change that when using what we knew at the time, keeping Anderson made the most sense.

 

[Caeldan]

It was Bishop vs Anderson, not Bishop vs Lehner.

At the time, Anderson was still in his prime considering goalies tend to play at later ages. He was the first stable goalie we had since Lalime. Bishop was still relatively unproven as a full time starter.

Bishop would have had to be willing to sign an extension prior to the TDL because if he did not get enough starts here he would have become a UFA. We don't know if he would have been willing to extend here with Anderson in the picture. He probably wanted to go somewhere that he'd get an opportunity to start.

We almost got Couturier from PHI for Bishop. Instead, we got what was supposed to be a good young forward in Conacher who helped add a bit of scoring down the stretch to get us into the playoffs. Unfortunately, that good young forward wasn't as good as we thought he'd be long term.

With the benefit of hindsight, keeping Bishop and dealing Anderson would have been better. But at the time, keeping Anderson and using Bishop to get help up front made sense considering that I doubt keeping both was a viable solution.

It was most definitely Bishop vs Lehner, and the issue was games played for Bishop or he'd be an RFA type 6, not UFA (which is effectively the same if unsigned at the end of the year). So if he stayed with us, we could have maintained his RFA status assuming we returned Lehner to Binghamton, or potentially re-signed him with a commitment to stay in the big club. But Lehner was being a headcase about it and management still had faith in his pedigree, so we moved Bishop for what was thought to be an absolute steal at the time of the trade as Conacher was looking like a rookie of the year candidate on Stamkos' line.

Anderson at the time was very much cemented as our number one goalie.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

It was most definitely Bishop vs Lehner, and the issue was games played for Bishop or he'd be an RFA type 6, not UFA (which is effectively the same if unsigned at the end of the year). So if he stayed with us, we could have maintained his RFA status assuming we returned Lehner to Binghamton, or potentially re-signed him with a commitment to stay in the big club. But Lehner was being a headcase about it and management still had faith in his pedigree, so we moved Bishop for what was thought to be an absolute steal at the time of the trade as Conacher was looking like a rookie of the year candidate on Stamkos' line.

Anderson at the time was very much cemented as our number one goalie.

At the time of the TDL Bishop needed an additional 5 games played to retain RFA status. With Anderson returning and the Sens gunning down a far from locked up playoff spot, prioritizing giving Bishop 5 games over playing our best goalie at the time in Anderson might not have been wise.

Yes, we had a three goalie log jam and the result of the Bishop trade was Lehner graduating to the NHL, but I still don't think that means it was Bishop vs Lehner. It would have been very difficult to keep both Bishop and Anderson long term even if Bishop got in those 5 games to maintain RFA status.

 

[DJB]

Not sure if posted but Anderson has sold his ottawa home.

Wife and kids now living in Florida.

 

[Que]

Not sure if posted but Anderson has sold his ottawa home.

Wife and kids now living in Florida.

Huh. That can’t bode well.

 

[Langdon Alger]

Not sure if posted but Anderson has sold his ottawa home.

Wife and kids now living in Florida.

I believe he lived in Stittsville.

 

[armani]

Not sure if posted but Anderson has sold his ottawa home.

Wife and kids now living in Florida.

Makes sense as Nicole and family have been living in Florida, where she receives her treatment since she got diagnosed.

 

[DJB]

Makes sense as Nicole and family have been living in Florida, where she receives her treatment since she got diagnosed.

True.

However with that extension one would think that he would like his own place and not be living with a buddy but who knows. Maybe the buddy is ok if Andy's family stays and visits.

 

[Masked]

Huh. That can’t bode well.

Depends upon whether he can bounce back from last season.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

Is he in town yet? Was he there today?

 

[Langdon Alger]

True.

However with that extension one would think that he would like his own place and not be living with a buddy but who knows. Maybe the buddy is ok if Andy's family stays and visits.

Even if he sold his place, they could get another. Maybe renting? Nicole Anderson tweeted something about attending an event in Ottawa tonight or this weekend. She was replying to something Ian Mendes tweeted and said she would see him there.

Just double checked. Don’t think the event was tonight. Plus it said she was tweeting from Florida.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

I don't remember an exact source or anything, just listening to TSN 1200 I recall hearing something like his family now lives in Florida full time, and he only stays in Ottawa when he has to. If that's the case, selling his home may not be an indication of a trade. It doesn't make much sense to own a house for one person who is gone a majority of the time.

 

[DJB]

Is he in town yet? Was he there today?

He is in town yes.

 

[Langdon Alger]

He is in town yes.

Hanging out with his best bud Karlsson?

 

[Sensung]

Hanging out with his best bud Karlsson?

Didn't notice him golfing with EK, Stone and Chabot.

 

[DJB]

Hanging out with his best bud Karlsson?

No idea lol but likely not

 

[Caeldan]

I don't remember an exact source or anything, just listening to TSN 1200 I recall hearing something like his family now lives in Florida full time, and he only stays in Ottawa when he has to. If that's the case, selling his home may not be an indication of a trade. It doesn't make much sense to own a house for one person who is gone a majority of the time.

I think it's when she went through the cancer stuff. Near as I can recall, Anderson's roots are Chicago but his wife's family is Florida... so she went back home to her family for support during treatment. Outside of working here, I don't think he's ever really become a part of the Ottawa community.