Senators won’t expose G Craig Anderson to Golden Knights in expansion draft

Senators goalie Craig Anderson must have made some impression on the front office during the team's playoff drive.

General manager Pierre Dorion said Monday that Anderson, 36, is the goalie the Sens will protect in the upcoming expansion draft to stock the Vegas Golden Knights' roster.

Although Ottawa was eliminated by the Penguins in a seven-game Eastern Conference Final, Anderson was stellar throughout the postseason (.922 save percentage).

"Craig Anderson will be the goalie we protect, no ifs ands or buts about it," Dorion said at his season-ending news conference (via TSN.ca), admitting that Anderson's playoff performance changed the GM's thinking.

Anderson is entering the final year of his contract that counts $4.2 million against the salary cap. He won 25 games in 40 appearances in 2016-17, posting a .926 save percentage and 2.28 GAA for one of the best seasons of his career.

Because the expansion draft rules require that each team expose one active-roster goalie, the Sens will leave Andrew Hammond, 29, available to the Golden Knights.