Sabres re-sign goalie Craig Anderson to one-year deal

The veteran goaltender, who said in May he would ponder retirement, has signed a one-year contract for the 2022-23 season, the club announced Thursday morning. Anderson will make $1.5 million, double the $750,000 salary he made last season.

Anderson, 41, joined the Sabres on a one-year contract last July. He went 17-12-2 with a 3.12 goals against average and .897 save percentage in 31 starts and became a major presence in the locker room for a young team.

Anderson had a huge start to the season, going 4-1, 1.98/.939 in October, but was sidelined for three months due to a neck injury suffered in a game at San Jose and that coincided with the team's dip in fortunes. He also dealt with some minor hip issues at the end of the season. Anderson is expected to mentor Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, although it's possible the Sabres can start Luukkonen in Rochester and sign another goaltender on a short-term deal for Buffalo to join Anderson.

"I have a lot of respect for Craig,  not just the career he's had, but the way he handles himself professionally," General Manager Kevyn Adams said Thursday in a pre-draft news conference in KeyBank Center. "I think he had a big influence in our locker room in terms of being a player that's done a lot in this league, but also being a player that gets up every day and works to get better and takes care of himself."

It's well-known that Anderson was rejuvenated by the young roster in Buffalo and by coach Don Granato's staff after spending a season in Washington where he was essentially a non-playing mentor for Vitek Vanecek. He played just four games for the Capitals in the shortened 2021 season.

"It says a lot about Craig and his family, and also how he feels about the coaching staff, the players, the organization," Adams said. "Because I don't know if this time last year if he thought maybe this could be one year, but I think he had fun and he sees something special building. Even said to me, 'In all my years of playing, I don't know if I've enjoyed myself more than I did last year.'"

When he spoke to reporters on locker cleanout day in April, Anderson was effusive in his praise for the Sabres.

"It's been amazing. The year has been a great experience," he said. "When I did sign, I had a short conversation with Kevyn about the direction that they wanted to go and what they were trying to accomplish. And I felt that I was honored to be kind of selected to be a part of that. Because not only did they have faith in my ability to stop the puck, but they also have faith in me as a character person to do the right thing, lead the right way. And they didn't know me from anybody."

Over the final two months of the season, the Sabres locked in a top-four group of young defensemen in Rasmus Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson. Adams wanted Anderson back in part to work with that quartet.

"I think he had a big influence in our locker room in terms of being a player that's done a lot in this league, but also being a player that gets up every day and works to get better and takes care of himself," Adams said. "You look at our young team, and especially our young 'D' corps, I do think it's very important to have someone that there's some stability in terms of the presence and what he brings, and I think he had a big influence on that D corps."

Adams said the signing of Anderson does not preclude the Sabres from exploring other possibilities on the goalie market.

"It doesn't change in anything in terms of the conversations that we're having right now in looking at different options," he said. "We have to be in on every conversation, we have to be open to every possible scenario, which we are."