Former Colorado Avalanche goalie (and former future savior) Craig Anderson has officially signed a four year contract with the Ottawa Senators worth $12.75 million. Anderson was traded at the deadline from Colorado after a disappointing season for goalie Brian Elliott. The Senators picked Anderson up -- even though they were far from contention -- as an audition for the future. After an exclamation mark debut with Ottawa (a 47-save shutout against Toronto), it appears they have decided he's their goalie of the future.
Why is this news? Well, rumors abound that Anderson refused a two year, $7.5 million contract extension from Colorado last offseason because he was looking for a bigger paycheck. His play in Denver this season was uninspired (to put it lightly), and now it seems he has finally found a home. TSN's Bob McKenzie remarks that the cap hit for this contract is $3.187 million per year, not a small price for an Ottawa team mired in a rebuild but with substantial cap commitments for their future. Even worse, Anderson's play of late has pulled Ottawa out of the running for one of the top draft selections in the upcoming draft -- further stagnating their rebuild.
Have they found the goalie that will take them to the promised land? Anderson's career numbers have been fairly inconsistent and he is certainly playing over his head at the moment. It's a very risky investment for Ottawa, but Anderson's gamble seems to have paid off.
Just be glad that Colorado didn't offer a similar contract last year.