| Nick Obergan. 27th March, 2011 - 7:01 pm
 When the Ottawa Senators acquired goalie Craig Anderson in mid-February, it was widely seen as an extended tryout for Anderson, as he was due to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Evidently, the tryout went well, as Anderson and the Sens agreed to a 4-year, $12.75M contract extension.
When Ottawa acquired Anderson, he had lost seven straight games for the Avalanche, and had not allowed fewer than three goals in any of those games; it seemed like the magic of his 2009-10 Vezina-nominated season was long gone. Yes, last season the 29-year-old journeyman landed his first full-time starting gig, and responded with a 38-25-7 record, seven shutouts, 2.63 GAA and .917 SV%. But through his first 33 games with Colorado this season, he had a paltry 13-15-3 record, 3.28 GAA, .897 SV%.
Now, don't discount the struggles in front of him contributing to his own statistical struggles, as the Avs have been the worst team in the NHL since the calendar turned to 2011, winning only seven of 35 games. The team's defense struggled, and Anderson was pepped with a tonne of shots, but his save percentage shows he was performing at a far inferior level, and was perhaps destined to become a backup once again.
Since the trade to Ottawa, however, Anderson has re-established himself as a starting goalie in the NHL, and single-handedly given the entire team confidence in the goaltending situation. Confidence in their goalies is not a staple of Senators' hockey teams, from the failed Pascal Leclaire experiment, Brian Elliott, Martin Gerber, Ray Emery, all the way back to Patrick Lalime.
When Anderson arrived in Ottawa, they were in brutal shape and threatening to land in last place in the Eastern Conference; but since the trade the team has went 11-7. Anderson, himself, has went 8-4 with two shutouts, an impressive 1.84 GAA and other-worldly .945 SV%. Locking him up based on his performance in Ottawa for a doable $3.187M salary cap hit seemed like a good plan.
But there should be concern for Ottawa committing four years and starting-goalie-salary to a goalie who has only been a good starter for a season and a half at a time when he is right in the middle of his prime. Remember, last offseason goalies were getting one- or two-year deals between $1M-$2M, and to me Anderson is a goalie who is more in the $2M range (he earns $2.125M this season) than $3M+, because he simply has not performed at a high level for a long enough period of time, or consistently.
It seems like Ottawa is willing to completely discount his first 35 appearances of the season with Colorado, but how often have we seen a player get an immediate boost after a trade, only to fall back to earth shortly thereafter? Wojtek Wolski comes to mind. Last season Wolski had 18 points in 18 games after he was dealt to Phoenix at the deadline; this season he has 32 points in 67 games.
Anderson did a fantastic job of capitalizing on his strong post-trade play, but Ottawa was a bit short-sighted and likely committed much more than another team would have on the open market this offseason.
Grade for Ottawa: B-
Grade for Anderson: A
Nick is RealGM's NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan
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