Washington Capitals add Craig Anderson to taxi squad
The Washington Capitals have signed goaltender Craig Anderson.
The Washington Capitals waived Craig Anderson yesterday. Now that he has cleared waivers, the team signed him to a one year deal worth $700,000. With the backup position already in place with Vitek Vanecek, Anderson has been assigned to the team’s taxi squad.
Anderson joins forwards Daniel Carr and Brian Pinho and defenseman Martin Fehervary. He also joins goaltenders Pheonix Copley and Zach Fucale on the taxi squad.
Last season the 39 year old posted an 11-17-2 record with a 3.25 goals against average and a .902 save percentage in 34 games with the Ottawa Senators. Anderson is the Senators all time leader for goaltenders with 435 games, 422 starts, 202 wins and a save percentage of .914. He is also second in shutouts with 28.
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Listed as six foot two and 186 pounds, Anderson ranks ninth among active goaltenders with 289 career wins while his .913 save percentage is tied for 14th among goaltenders with at least 400 games.
In 648 games, the Park Ridge, Illinois native has a combined record of 289-251-2-67 with 42 shutouts, a 2.84 goals against average and a .913 save percentage with the Senators, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks. He was selected as a third round pick at 73rd overall by the Blackhawks in the 2001 NHL Draft.
Anderson was the winner of the Bill Masterton Trophy as the player who best exemplifies qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication back in 2017. Anderson is 23-22 in 46 career playoff games with four shutouts, a 2.35 goals against average and a .929 save percentage.
Ilya Samsonov will get the start tonight in Buffalo. With this being the first of a back to back, expect Vitek Vanecek to make his NHL debut on Friday although Peter Laviolette hasn’t committed to that yet during his talk with the media this morning.
It’s good that Anderson gets an opportunity with the Caps and God forbid something happens to the two main netminders, he will get in some game action. The taxi squad has been added with a group of up to six players that can practice and travel with the team.
Every team can carry up to four to six players in case something happens with injuries or COVID-19. The Caps announced their final roster yesterday and it looks like we’ll know what the lineup will look like based on morning skate.
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The puck drops tonight at 7 p.m. and you can catch the game on NBC Sports Washington. After two nights in Buffalo the team will head to Pittsburgh.