Senators Sign Craig Anderson to Four-Year Contract

The Ottawa Senators announced today that they have signed goaltender Craig Anderson to a four-year contract worth $12.75 million. The deal will average out to $3.18 million per season. He would have been an unrestricted free agent this summer. He was acquired by the Senators on February 18 from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for goaltender Brian Elliott. In 44 games this season with the Avalanche and Senators, Anderson has a 19-19-3 record, one shutout, a 2.98 GAA, and a .908 save percentage. Not a bad signing for Ottawa, as Anderson has been a fairly steady goaltender for the team since his acquisition. He has solid goaltending skills and adds a lot of depth in goal for the team. Look for Robin Lehner to be Anderson's backup next season, or possibly split the goaltending duties depending on how both goalies fare throughout the course of the season.

Senators Acquire Craig Anderson from Avalanche for Brian Elliott

The Ottawa Senators announced today that they have acquired goaltender Craig Anderson from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for goaltender Brian Elliott. This is the fourth trade the Senators have made in the past week as GM Bryan Murray continues to revamp the roster. Elliott is the latest Senator to move, following forwards Jarkko Ruutu, Chris Kelly, and Mike Fisher. Anderson will be eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer, while Elliott will be eligible for restricted free agency. In 33 games this season with the Avalanche, Anderson has a 13-15-3 record, with a 3.28 GAA and a .897 save percentage, while Elliott has a 13-19-8 record, three shutouts, a 3.19 GAA, and a .894 save percentage in 43 games with Ottawa. This is a good trade for the Senators, as Anderson has decent goaltending skills and adds a lot of depth in goal despite struggling in Colorado this season. Despite being eligible for UFA status this summer, the Senators will likely try to get Anderson under contract prior to July 1, as long as he has a good run with the team for the rest of the season. If he does and Ottawa re-signs him, look for their goaltending tandem to be Anderson and Robin Lehner next season. Pascal Leclaire will also be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but Ottawa is unlikely to re-sign him due to his inconsistency and injury history while with the team. As for Colorado, they get a young goaltender in Elliott who covers a lot of area in net and is fairly quick on his skates, but is very inconsistent and can lose his positioning sometimes. He had a decent start to the 2010-11 season, but has struggled mightily in net for the past few months. If Elliott is able to improve his goaltending skills, this could be an okay trade for Colorado, but they were likely better off trying to re-sign Anderson for another year and see if he could improve.

Avalanche Sign Goaltender Anderson to Two-Year Contract

The Colorado Avalanche addressed their goaltending needs on Wednesday by signing goalie Craig Anderson to a two-year contract worth $3.6 million. The deal averages out to $1.8 million per season. In 31 games last season, Anderson posted a 15-7-5 record, three shutouts, a GAA of 2.71, and a .924 save percentage. This is a good signing for the Avalanche, as they needed a proven starting goaltender and Anderson fits that need. He’s got good goaltending skills and will easily grab the starting role away from Peter Budaj in Colorado.