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It's no secret that goaltending has been a plagued position for the Ottawa Senators. The franchise is almost twenty years old, yet the large majority of memories between the crease have been of the ugly variation.
When the Ottawa Senators sent essentially nothing to Colorado for the services of Craig Anderson, it - for the first time in a long time - gave the fan base hope for the future. Through Craig Anderson's 231 game career, he's looked every bit the part of a starting goaltender in the National Hockey League, and it's all but a certainty that he'll again have the job for the Ottawa Senators next year.
Even better, the team is grooming highly-touted prospect Robin Lehner for the future. In short, two goaltenders capable of playing and playing well in the system; a rare and welcomed change of pace for this franchise.
Still, it certainly seems that a large majority of writers and bloggers that didn't get a good look at the Colorado Avalanche and/or Ottawa Senators aren't sold on Anderson's play. Consider a recent piece by
Sam McCaig over at Puck Daddy, and his attempt to rank the top twenty-five goalies in the National Hockey League:
25. Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators: He's had world-beating stretches and is used to seeing a lot of shots, which bodes well for the Sens.
24. Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets: At his best, he's one of the best. His challenge is to consistently play at that high level.
23. Nikolai Khabibulin, Edmonton Oilers: Age and injuries are the big cracks in the Bulin Wall.
22. Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg Jets: He's improved every season, and could be much higher on this list next year.
21. Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings: Steady, reliable stopper with flashes of brilliance.
20. Kari Lehtonen, Dallas Stars: Finally managed to play a whole season, and enjoyed a career year as a result.
19. Dwayne Roloson, Tampa Bay Lightning: He turns 42 in October, but the Bolts believe he has at least one more good year left in him.
18. Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks: It's not often that a rookie takes over starting duties for the defending Cup champions, but Crawford performed admirably and nearly rallied the 'Hawks past the Canucks in the first round of the playoffs.
17. Jaroslav Halak, St. Louis Blues: The Blues are getting better, and Halak is a big part of the equation.
16. Jonas Hiller, Anaheim Ducks: A bout with vertigo torpedoed his season. Here's hoping the dizzy spells are over.
15. Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild: Minny hasn't had much success in recent years, but goaltending isn't the problem.
You can check out the rest of the blog over at the Yahoo! Sports blog roll(note: he ranks Thomas/Rinne/Lundqvist as the top three), but it's this large portion I want to focus on.
Even the most staunch Anderson supporters will tell you he's not an 'elite' netminder by any stretch of the word, an unfair benchmark to set on a goalie with career splits of .913 and 2.78. Still, the fact that he was thrown behind the likes of Nikolai Khabibulin, Steve Mason, Kari Lehtonen, and to some extent Jimmy Howard is - quite frankly - bizarre.
Let's compare these five goaltenders over the past three years to get a better grip for how they actually produce. Let's take the quality of each goalies team into consideration, too.
Craig Anderson - 75-60-11. 917 save pct, 2.58 GAA
Jimmy Howard - 74-33-15. .915 save pct, 2.46 GAA,
Kari Lehtonen - 59-50-14. 912 save pct, 2.68 GAA
Steve Mason - 77-67-23. .906 save pct, 2.64 GAA
Nikolai Khabibulin - 42-49-13. .904 save pct, 2.84 GAA
Much to no one's surprise, the ranking seems a bit unfair. Aside from Jimmy Howard, not one of those goaltenders has realy played up to the level of Craig Anderson over the past three years, and it's not like some unforeseen regression has to be accounted for. He's just 30 years-old, the prime of his career.
In fact, let's look at those splits between Anderson and Howard. While both goalies have performed at the same clip - Anderson stopping more shots per night, Howard keeping scores lower per night - the winning percentages are drastically different.
Does it make the case that Anderson's W/L over the past three is a bit harsh, or that Howard's is a bit skewed favorably thanks to the system in Detroit? Perhaps a little of both. Howard's a good goaltender, but for those splits, averaging 1.33 PPG is a little high.
Past those four goalies, there's other names I'd have trouble slotting over Anderson, too. Dwayne Roloson's an exceptional player, but the guy is 41 years-old. Hell, even the underrated Niklas Backstrom's splits over the last three years (85-70-21, .914 save pct, 2.47 GAA) is certainly debatable, and he's
nine spots ahead of Anderson.
But, it gets better. Martin Brodeur clocked in at #11, with three-year splits at 87-60-12, .912 save pct, and a 2.24 GAA. Marc-Andre Flery, #7 on the rankings, posted a 108-59-18, .911 save pct, 2.44 GAA.
Again, comparable numbers, with the only variable being the quality of play the respective teams put together. Anderson's played on significantly weaker defensive teams, especially when compared against the likes of New Jersey and Pittsburgh.
I fully understand that these lists are subjective in nature and you're going to go with your instinct when so many players have similar splits, but even in an opinion-based article, ranking Craig Anderson so low just seems bizarre.
What's your take? Is Anderson fine at 25, or was the ranking a bit unjust?
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Thanks for reading!
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