Andrew Hammond signs 3-year contract with Senators
The Ottawa Senators are keeping The Hamburglar after signing goalie Andrew Hammond to a three-year contract extension.
By
Adam Gretz
•
2 min read
It has been quite a year for Ottawa Senators goalie Andrew Hammond.
He came out of nowhere to lead the team to an improbable playoff appearance and was given free McDonald's for life because of his nickname and goalie mask that inspired fans to throw hamburgers on the ice.
And now he has a new contract extension.
The Senators announced on Wednesday morning that they have signed Hammond to a three-year contract worth an average annual salary of $1.35 million.
Not bad for a guy that was undrafted and as recently as January was playing -- and struggling -- in the American Hockey League.
In 24 regular season games with the Senators this past season, Hammond recorded a .941 save percentage and a 20-1-2 record to help lead the Senators to the playoffs after they appeared to be completely out of the race at the time of his callup from Binghamton.
He appeared in only two playoff games in their first round series loss to the Montreal Canadiens before being replaced by Craig Anderson.
With Hammond now signed it is only a matter of time until the Senators trade one of their other two goalies -- Anderson or Robin Lehner -- that are also under contract for this upcoming season, something that general manager Bryan Murray said would have to happen if they were able to come to an agreement with Hammond.
On one hand, the financial commitment from the Senators isn't that terrible. A $1.35 million salary cap hit is basically backup goalie money, so it's not like they are paying him to be a No. 1 guy. But a three-year deal for a player that has only 26 games in the NHL, and before that was one of the least productive goalies in the AHL, does seem like a little too much, a little too soon.
Hammond was eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer if he did not agree to a new deal before July 1.
Lehner's health is still unknown at this point after he suffered a concussion in February and missed the remainder of the season. Murray said at his end of the season press conference in April that Lehner was still unable to ride an exercise bike without experiencing concussion symptoms.
Anderson has been one of the more underappreciated goalies in the NHL in recent years and would still be the best goalie on the team next season.
Because he is nicknamed The Hamburglar, and has a picture of the McDonald's mascot on the right side of his goalie mask, Senators fans spent the second half of the season littering the ice in Ottawa with hamburgers.
Not long after the season ended McDonald's introduced a new version of The Hamburglar that has a striking resemblence to the Senators goalie.
