With three goalies – Craig Anderson, Robin Lehner and Andrew Hammond – in the stable, it’s no secret the Ottawa Senators are looking to move one in a trade this summer.
Last month, it was reported that “five or six teams” had called the Senators about their goalies, including the Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres. The St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames are also believed to be in the mix.
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On Tuesday, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reported the Senators are looking to acquire a young player who could become a top-six forward and a high draft pick for one of their goalies.
“That could be tough,” a league executive told Garrioch. “When you make goalie trades do you actually get full value?”
The piece explains that, naturally, the Senators will likely get more interest and greater return for Lehner who will be just 24 years old at the start of next season, giving him plenty of time yet to develop. Anderson has the longer track record and better numbers, but at 34 years old and with three years left on his contract with a $4.2 million cap hit, his return in a trade is not expected to be as high.
Garrioch added that the Senators may be open to adding Colin Greening or David Legwand into a trade involving a goalie, in order to get the return they want.
Ottawa’s management and pro scouting teams are meeting to go over potentially available players and which teams are serious buyers on the goaltending market. GM Bryan Murray recently said the team could start next season with all three goalies if they don’t get the return they want, but the executive who spoke to Garrioch had his doubts.
“It’s going to be a distraction (if a trade isn’t made) and it’s going to be the talk all of camp (if they go with three). You kind of want to deal with it, get some closure and move on. You can say, ‘These are the two guys we’re going to go with and let’s get ready for opening night.'”
The last time the Senators found themselves in a situation with three goalies was 2013, when they traded Ben Bishop to Tampa Bay for Cory Conacher and a fourth round pick. At that time, the team kept Anderson and Lehner.
