After goaltender Henrik Lundqvist announced that he will not play this season due to a heart condition, the Washington Capitals announced on Sunday that they have signed goaltender Craig Anderson to a professional tryout agreement. Anderson became an unrestricted free agent on October 9.
The 39-year-old went 11-17-2 with a .902 save percentage and a 3.25 goals-against average in 34 games with the Ottawa Senators last season. He also posted a .918 save percentage, a 2.71 goals-against average, a -0.99 goals-saved above average, and a .827 high-danger save percentage at five-on-five last season.
In 648 career NHL games with the Senators and Colorado Avalanche, Anderson has gone 289-251-67 with a .913 save percentage, a 2.84 goals-against average, and 42 shutouts. The best season of his career came in 2012-13 when he went 12-9-2 with a career-high .941 save percentage, a career-low 1.69 goals-against average, and three shutouts as a member of the Senators.
The Capitals signed Anderson to compete with Vitek Vanecek, who went 19-10-2 with a .917 save percentage, a 2.26 goals-against average, and two shutouts with the AHL’s Hershey Bears last season, and Pheonix Copley went 17-8-6 with a .905 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average, and two shutouts, for the back-up job. The two, along with starter Ilya Samsonov, have a combined 55 games worth of NHL experience.
In 46 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, Anderson has gone 23-22 with a .929 save percentage, a 2.35 goals-against average, and four shutouts. He went 11-8 with a .922 save percentage, a 2.34 goals-against average, and one shutout as the starter for the Senators during their run to the 2017 Eastern Conference Final.
Training camp begins a week from Sunday for the Capitals.
By Harrison Brown