Anderson won't return to Senators next season

Craig Anderson said Friday he wants to continue his NHL career, two days after the Ottawa Senators said they would not offer the 39-year-old goalie a contract for next season.

"I've been preparing for the last couple months as if I'm going to play," said Anderson, who will become an unrestricted free agent Oct. 9. "Once the news hit that [the Senators] weren't going to bring me back, in my mind I said that I was going to do everything that I possibly could to be ready if someone does come calling, that I'd be at least in game shape or training camp shape for when that occurred."
Anderson was 11-17-2 with a 3.25 goals-against average and .902 save percentage in 34 games (31 starts) this season, and 202-168-46 with a 2.84 GAA, .914 save percentage and 28 shutouts in 435 games (422 starts) during 10 seasons with the Senators.
He ranks first in Ottawa history in wins and second in shutouts, two behind Patrick Lalime.
"Craig should be given so much credit, it's one of the best trades [former Senators GM] Bryan Murray made," Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said Wednesday. "He's the winningest goalie in this organization. I'll go on the record and say he's the most performing goalie in this organization, the best goalie we've ever had. But it's time for us to take another direction and we thank him for everything he did."
Anderson said he is open to possibly being a backup next season.
"I know my body can't play 70 games," he said, "Playing [34] last year was a pretty good number."
Anderson, acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche for goalie Brian Elliott on Feb. 18, 2011, was 21-18 with a 2.30 GAA, .928 save percentage and three shutouts in 40 Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Senators and helped them reach Game 7 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Final, a 3-2 double-overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He won the Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication to hockey in 2016-17, when he had to take several leaves of absence to be with his wife, Nicholle, who was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a rare form of throat cancer. The day after Game 7 of the conference final, Anderson learned Nicholle was cancer-free.
"When we made that run a few years ago, everyone knows that Craig was probably our MVP," Dorion said. "It's unfortunate that we were never able to win a Cup with Craig, but Craig did many wonderful things for this organization."
Selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round (No. 73) of the 2001 NHL Draft, Anderson is 289-251-67 with two ties, a 2.84 GAA, .913 save percentage and 42 shutouts in 648 games (633 starts) with the Senators, Avalanche, Florida Panthers and Blackhawks.
Anderson said the possibility of becoming the 37th goalie in NHL history to win 300 games is incentive for him to play next season.
"The number 300 is still sitting there, just a carrot dangling in front," he said. "I would be selling myself short if I wasn't prepared if someone were to call."
Anders Nilsson and Marcus Hogberg each backed up Anderson in 2019-20. Nilsson (concussion) hasn't played since Dec. 16 and is not yet on the ice, but Dorion said he's feeling better and thinks he'll be ready by next season.
Braden Holtby, Corey Crawford, Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom and Anton Khudobin are among pending unrestricted free agent goalies. Matt Murray can become a restricted free agent, and Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford told The Athletic on Aug. 24 that Murray or Tristan Jarry (a pending RFA) likely will be traded prior to next season.
Joey Daccord, 24, will compete with Filip Gustavsson, 22, to start for the Senators' American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville after going 15-6-2 with a 2.61 GAA, .915 save percentage and one shutout in his first full pro season. Daccord has made one NHL start for Ottawa, allowing five goals on 40 shots in a 5-2 loss at the Buffalo Sabres on April 4, 2019.
Junior goalies Mads Sogaard, 19, and Kevin Mandolese, 20, each is working his way up.
"First and foremost, we're going to look internally at what we have," Dorion said. "If a free agent does make sense, we're going to look at that possibility. We will be well prepared. We're going to have meetings about free agents, the coaching staff, [coach D.J. Smith], [assistant GM Peter MacTavish] and myself. I've always believed that a coach should be involved in this process because he's going to play these players."
The Senators (25-34-12, .437 points percentage) failed to make the playoffs for a third straight season and did not make the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as part of the NHL Return to Play Plan. They have the No. 3, No. 5 and No. 28 picks in the 2020 NHL Draft, to be held Oct. 6-7. Ottawa acquired the No. 3 pick in the trade that sent defenseman Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks on Sept. 13, 2018 and the No. 28 pick from the New York Islanders in a trade for center Jean-Gabriel Pageau on Feb. 24.
It's the first time a team has had two top-five selections since the Islanders (No. 1 and No. 5) in the 2000 NHL Draft.
"We're going to draft the best player that's going to help us win as we move forward through this plan," Dorion said. "We have a lot of needs. We finished in 30th, 31st and 30th place over the last year, so we have a lot of needs. We have a lot of prospects coming at multiple positions, but we're going to draft who we feel is going to help us win in the near future and in the long term."
NHL.com Independent Correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report