The Ottawa Senators re-signed Mike Condon this offseason to a three-year contract despite the fact that they still had Craig Anderson under contract as the de facto starter, and that situation could last even more than just one season. James Gordon of The Athletic spoke with Anderson today, who said he’s leaving any extension negotiations to his agent and GM Pierre Dorion. For his part, Dorion apparently sounded positive on the matter, bringing up an interesting question for the Senators. How much is Anderson really worth?
After an incredibly emotional and inspiring season, Anderson heads into the year at age-36 and coming off a .926 save percentage. There is no question he’s still a near-elite level goaltender in the league, but for how much longer can that continue? Condon signed for $2.4MM per season, leaving plenty of room to keep Anderson under contract in a tandem, but the Senators are not usually a cap team—instead operating on an internal budget—and will have to issue big extensions to some of their players before long. Erik Karlsson leads that list as a pending free agent in the summer of 2019, but he’s joined by Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, Derick Brassard and Cody Ceci who will all need contracts in one form or another during that period.
- Brandon Mashinter has signed a contract with the San Jose Sharks for the upcoming season, and though the news release doesn’t specify financials it is expected to be a two-way deal since it was announced by Joe Will, the GM of the AHL Barracuda. Mashinter, 28, played all of last season for the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL, scoring 30 points in 61 games. A veteran of 64 NHL games, he was originally signed by the Sharks out of the OHL after going undrafted. He’ll be in a depth role for the Barracuda, who were one of the league’s best teams last season.
- The Athletic’s Corey Pronman has released the first half of his Top 100 Under 25 list, which also includes a healthy honorable mention group. One of the most immediate takeaways surely is how many extremely talented players are in this bottom half, showing how incredibly young the league has skewed in recent years. Players like Adam Larsson and J.T. Miller find themselves lower on the list not because of any lack of talent, but because of the infusion the last few drafts have given the league. When 19-year old players like Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid can come in with such an impact right away, it pushes everyone else down. Carolina leads the way with five names in the 50-100 range, and even Vegas gets onto the list with the inclusion of Shea Theodore.