The Ottawa Senators are testing the market regarding backup goaltender Andrew Hammond, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link). Hammond noted recently that he is close to being ready to return to game action after missing the last two weeks with a lower body injury.
The 28 year old has played in two games with the Senators so far this season, posting a 0-1-0 record with a 4.50 goals against average and a .793 save percentage. Those are both well down from his career averages which are much stronger, a GAA of 2.25 and a SV% of .925.
His best run in the NHL came back in 2014-15 where he won 20 of 23 decisions after coming up late in the year to propel the Sens to a highly improbable postseason appearance. That earned him a three year deal with a cap hit of $1.35MM; 2016-17 is the second season of that contract.
With the uncertainty surrounding Craig Anderson due to his wife’s cancer diagnosis, GM Pierre Dorion made a trade with Pittsburgh earlier this month to bring in Mike Condon to give them extra depth. Condon has allowed just a single goal in two starts in Ottawa while stopping 58 of 59 shots. He also has a cap hit of the league minimum $575K; those two factors could have him ahead of Hammond in the pecking order moving forward.
In the meantime, the team will soon have to decide whether or not to ask Hammond to accept a conditioning assignment. Given how little he has played so far this season, that might go a long way towards shaping what type of value he might have on the trade market as teams will likely want him to shake off any potential rust before making a move for him.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
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