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Washington Capitals: 5 players who won’t be back in 2021

By Michael Marzzacco

Brenden Dillon, Washington Capitals (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Brenden Dillon, Washington Capitals (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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Craig Anderson, Washington Capitals (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Craig Anderson, Washington Capitals (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Craig Anderson

After the news came that Henrk Lundqvist was going to sit out the season for open heart surgery, the Caps needed to find a solution in a new veteran netminder. They went with Craig Anderson, signing him to a PTO (professional tryout agreement, I honestly have no idea why there’s an O in there).

After Ilya Samsonov solidified his starting spot for opening night, Vitek Vanecek impressed the coaches enough to earn a backup spot. That left Anderson as the odd man out but thanks to the taxi squad addition was still able to practice and travel with the team, helping mentor the two young goalies.

Anderson appeared in four regular season games, going 2-1-0 with a 2.13 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. After Vitek Vanecek hurt himself in Game 1 following a goal scored by the Boston Bruins, the Caps turned to Craig Anderson for the remainder of Game 1 and Game 2.

In Game 1 which was the lone game the Caps won that series, Anderson made 21 saves off of 22 shots that he faced for a .955 save percentage. He followed that up in Game 2 turning away 44 of the 48 shots that he faced for a .917 save percentage.

After the season, there was rumors that the 40 year old would retire. Instead, he has joined the Buffalo Sabres.

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