Craig Anderson inked to two-year extension
The deal is worth $4.75M annually
The Senators re-signed one of this summer’s pending UFAs this morning:
The two-year extension has an AAV of $4.75M ($5.5M in year one, $4.0M in year two). The deal also includes a 10-team no trade clause. #Sens
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) September 29, 2017
This was for the most part an expected move. Craig Anderson was a lights-out goalie in the playoffs, and has easily become the best goalie in franchise history. (Not the greatest goalie to play for the franchise, that would be Domink Hasek.) With no one obviously pressing for the starter’s gig in the next couple years, it made sense to further extend the 36-year-old. It also must be nice for the Anderson family, with Nicholle’s ongoing battle with cancer, to know that there are another couple years of guaranteed income. The 10-team no-trade list gives them a little bit of certainty over their future.
I’m not opposed to the contract, but I’m not sure what the rush was. I doubt there would’ve been a huge demand for a 37-year-old goalie in the summer outside of Ottawa. He likely would’ve preferred to not have to move again. And though he’s still a bona fide starter right now, he’s going to get worse eventually, and the closer he gets to 40, the more likely his starts are to fall off a cliff. I would’ve liked to see him play 20 games this year before the team committed to another two years. I also think he was the least urgent pending free agent to re-sign: the Sens will have to worry about Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, Cody Ceci, Fredrik Claesson, Mark Borowiecki, and Chris Wideman (and Johnny Oduya) by this summer.
I think it came down to this was the easiest contract to get done. The Sens still need a starter, Anderson wanted to stay. If he continues to play like a starter, this will be a good-value contract.
