wprager wrote:As much as I'd like to think that Anderson's 47-save performance meant:
a) he likes us, he really likes us
b) he's going to play 70+ games like that for us next year
The truth of the matter is that this is a guy who is playing for his next contract. He is trying to impress 29 GMs (well, probably a lot fewer, but at least I'm fairly confident he's not headed back to Colorado), not just one. All he have is a bit of a head-start in marketing this team and the city.
Sure. I don't see a problem with any of that, tho'. The two best pending-UFA goalies, Vokoun & Bryzgalov, are not coming here; they're going to want to play on teams with a legitimate chance to win (or in cities that at least have lots of sunshine & beach). The next best two (both RFAs, I believe) are Howard & Niemi, and I just don't see them going anywhere. So that leaves Anderson, who I definitely put ahead of Giguere, Turco, Theodore, Smith, Osgood, etc., etc.
Anderson is the guy who makes the most sense for the Sens to target. Is he The Savior? Who knows. All I know is that we need a #1 goalie coming up this year, because clearly Elliott or Leclaire won't have that role, and Anderson is the best option available to us at the moment, in a variety of senses (because he will more than likely accept a short deal, given his past; because signing Bryzgalov to a long, expensive deal doesn't make sense to the organization, with respect to Lehner; and because trading away valuable assets on a rebuilding team to acquire a goalie makes even less sense). So good for BM in identifying that, and good for BM in getting us a head start on signing him.
Let's not talk about 'ruining Lehner' until we at least see what the plan is once Leclaire's healthy (if such a thing is possible), once we make a decision on Anderson, and once we hit the UFA period. If we sign a backup, we have an answer; and if we don't sign a backup, then we also have an answer. Everything before that is conjecture.