OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson agreed to a two-year, $9.5 million contract extension Friday that will pay him $5.5 million in 2018-19 and $4 million in 2019-20.
The 36-year-old American was set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
”It’s been a great home for me in Ottawa and I’m really looking forward to playing (the contract out),” Anderson said. ”I want to continue to contribute to the team and the organization. I’m just really ecstatic to be able to be a part of this group, be a part of this team.”
Anderson said he and wife Nicholle talked about his contract situation over the summer and agreed the best thing would be to remain in Ottawa. When Nicholle was diagnosed with a rare form of throat cancer last season, the organization gave Anderson the support he needed both on and off the ice allowing the young family to be together during its time of need.
”When I came back and just realized how much fun the game was and how much I missed it I knew that I wanted to push hard and continue to push my abilities to continue to get better and improve,” Anderson said. ”This has been home for me since I got here. Ottawa’s pretty much the reason why my career has expanded and taken the road it’s been on is because of what (former GM) Bryan Murray did for me to get me from Colorado to here.”
Acquired from Colorado in February 2011, Anderson is 238-182-57 with a 2.70 goals-against average in 506 regular-season games in 15 NHL seasons with Chicago, Florida, Colorado and Ottawa. He was 25-11-4 with a 2.28 goals-against average in 40 games last season
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