Anderson Gets 4-Year Extension

So I guess my concerns about the recent play of goaltender Craig Anderson were not shared by GM Bryan Murray.  Today it was announced that the Senators have signed Anderson to a 4 year contract extension.  Terms were not immediately available but will be updated here as soon as they are made public.  (UPDATE:  4 yrs, $12.75 Million, cap hit of 3.18 per year)

This signing answers the question of who will be the main guy in the Ottawa net next year.  It raises the question about the quality of netminder that he is.  Is he the man who excelled in Colorado last season, unexpectedly leading the Avalanche to the playoffs, and then took Ottawa by storm for his first 9 starts in a Senators uniform?  Or is he the man who struggled mightily this year which allowed Colorado to deal him for Brian Elliott, and who has put up stinkers in his last two starts here?

Considering he was injured at some point, likely during the game against Pittsburgh (although I didn’t see Matt Cooke near him!) so you have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The term for Anderson is fitting of a goaltender who still has something to prove, and he has shown he can hold down a #1 workload.  This also allows Robin Lehner to spend a whole season in the AHL to get a #1 workload, and to prove that he is perhaps the franchise’s first homegrown star (with all due respect to Ray Emery).  Eventually Lehner will compete for the starting spot but it is Anderson’s to run with for the next year or two.

The signing also re-affirms my suspicion that GM Bryan Murray will still occupy the position for the foreseeable future.  I first thought the Phillips signing indicated it, and this is further evidence of that.