After Andrew Hammond reportedly said no to a conditioning stint, the Ottawa Senators took a somewhat surprising route: placing “The Hamburglar” on waivers.
The Senators have been rolling with the trio of Hammond, Craig Anderson and Mike Condon since Anderson’s spent time away from the team amid his wife’s health struggles.
When Anderson has been in net, he’s been downright outstanding, and Condon’s made a solid impression for the Senators so far.
Perhaps money is part of the reason that Hammond is the odd man out:
Anderson: $4.2 million cap hit through 2017-18
Hammond: $1.35 million cap hit through 2017-18
Condon: $575K expires after this season
To an extent, it’s never felt like the Senators gave Hammond a full-fledged opportunity to back up his resounding, season-saving work from 2014-15.
Despite being solid enough save-percentage-wise (.914) last season, he only made 24 appearances and 21 starts. This year, he’s only been in two games, allowing six goals on just 29 shots.
There are reasons to have misgivings about making a claim on Hammond, especially since his contract runs through 2017-18.
Still, with teams like the Los Angeles Kings hurting for goaltending, maybe “The Hamburglar” is worth a sample?
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In other Senators news, Bobby Ryan won’t play on Saturday while Mike Hoffman looks unlikely to play.