Senators goaltender Mike Condon is having a strong sophomore NHL season and is poised to earn a nice raise from the league minimum salary he’s earning this season. He has posted a 2.49 GAA and a .914 SV% in 38 appearances between Pittsburgh and Ottawa and may be tempted to try and seek out a starting job as an unrestricted free agent in the summer. Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun proposes that Condon should stick with the Sens even though he’d likely have to cede the starting job to Craig Anderson for one more year.
The scribe suggests that a three year, $5MM deal could be palatable for both Condon and the team. For the 26 year old goalie, it would represent a sizable increase in pay and give him a nice guaranteed deal for someone that was on waivers from Montreal at the start of the season. From Ottawa’s perspective, a deal like that would give them some stability beyond next year when Anderson becomes a free agent without really breaking the bank.
Elsewhere around the Atlantic:
- Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News suggests that forward Zemgus Girgensons and goalie Linus Ullmark are the most likely options to be selected by the Golden Knights in the expansion draft in June. Girgensons had showed signs of a developing offensive game in his first two years but has tailed off since Dan Bylsma took over behind the bench; he has a career low 14 points (6-8-14) in 64 games this season. If he isn’t taken by Vegas, the Latvian could be a strong trade candidate in the summer. As for Ullmark, he has mediocre numbers at the AHL level this season but showed some good upside in a 20 game stint in Buffalo in 2015-16 which could make him an intriguing backup option with several years of team control for the Golden Knights.
- Detroit forward Dylan Larkin is getting more comfortable as he transitions back towards his natural center position, writes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. The 20 year old sophomore started the year there but early struggles saw him shifted to the wing. However, with the season all but over, the Red Wings plan to keep him there for the remainder of the year. After a 45 point rookie campaign, Larkin has just 14 goals and 11 assists in 67 games this season.
I like condon, but let’s not have another Hammond situation