The Ottawa Senators have acquired goaltender Craig Anderson from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for netminder Brian Elliott.
Elliott is the fourth player in the last week sent packing by general manager Bryan Murray as the club continues to revamp their roster; Elliott following forwards Jarkko Ruutu, Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly out of Ottawa.
"We have nine guys (change in the lineup) whether it's a week or so ago. It's not easy, but we also stress the opportunity that it's presented to some other players. The young guys, but also some of the other guys that have been around the last couple of years," said Senators coach Cory Clouston. "We're counting on guys like that to really step up their game and play in different roles."
Sharing goaltending duties with Robin Lehner, Elliott was in net this past Tuesday when the club broke an eight-game home losing skid at Scotiabank Place that stretches back to Dec. 26th. Elliot was also in net for Saturday's contest against the Oilers, where he allowed three goals on 18 shots to break a personal 12-game losing skid.
"I didn't think our goaltending was good enough going forward," general manager Bryan Murray said.
"The good thing about it is we get a chance for 20-something games to look and watch (Anderson) and, during that time period, I would think that we'll have discussions and we'll see where we want to be and where he wants to be."
Drafted by the Senators in the ninth round (291st overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Elliot has 130 games under his belt with 59 wins, 45 losses, 2.81 goals-against-average and a .903 save percentage.
Anderson is an eight-year NHL veteran who's played 213 regular-season games, recording a 87-83-19 mark with 14 in shootouts, along with a 2.85 career goals-against average and 0.911 save-percentage.
In 33 games this season, Anderson has struggled, posting a 13-15-3 mark and a 3.28 goals-against-average and 0.897 save percentage, but the Senators hope he'll be a good fit, even if temporary.
"Everything goes hand in hand in this business," Murray said. "Our defence would have been better if our goaltending would have been better and if we'd scored more goals our defence would have been better and our goaltending would have been better."
Anderson was Chicago's third-round pick (73rd overall) in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft and has played with the Blackhawks, Florida Panthers and last two seasons with the Avalanche.
He signed as a free agent with Colorado on July 1, 2009 and will become an unrestricted free agent at season's end.
