Craig Anderson Could Be On The Move
The Sens’ goalie has reportedly expressed his desire to be traded.
With the Ottawa Senators in the heat of trade rumours involving everyone from Erik Karlsson to Zack Smith, another player has today been added to the list. According to The Athletic’s Chris Stevenson, Craig Anderson has “expressed his desire” to move to a different market.
Goaltender Craig Anderson has expressed his desire to move on from the Senators, @theathletic has confirmed. That's usually the case when the agent is working on trying to find a deal, as @frank_seravalli reported a little while ago.
— Chris Stevenson (@CJ_Stevenson) June 22, 2018
Anderson’s agent, Justin Duberman, was originally reported to be working with the team to try and facilitate a trade. He has since denied his involvement, in a quote given to Bruce Garrioch.
“Ottawa has never asked me for help,” Duberman said. “They’re going to do whatever they can to improve their team. If that means they trade Craig Anderson, they trade Craig Anderson.”
Anderson is scheduled to begin his two-year contract extension this season with a cap hit of $4.75 million, signed last summer following the Sens’ run to the Eastern Conference Final. The new contract contains a clause that allows him to submit a 10 team no-trade list, although it doesn’t officially kick in until July 1st (his current contract has no clause). At 37 years old, Anderson is coming off a career-low season, with a save percentage of .898 in his 58 games played. Originally joining the Senators in 2011, he leads the franchise in games played amongst goalies (351) and wins (174).
With his wife Nicholle, the Andersons have also been active in the Ottawa community, with the two stepping up as ambassadors for Hockey Fights Cancer following Nicholle’s battle in 2016 and 2017. Craig won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2017, after taking time off to be with Nicholle through the journey.
With the rumours being released, one has to wonder where the Sens would receive their goaltending for next season. The Sens have reportedly shown interest in Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer, although the asking price is apparently higher than many GMs anticipated. Goalies on the UFA market this year include Robin Lehner, Cam Ward and Carter Hutton. Mike Condon is also under contract for two more seasons.
