On July 1st the Sens remained relatively silent, but did bring Alex Auld back into the mix.  He re-signed with the club as a UFA for 1 million over 1 year.

As you’ll recall the Senators acquired Craig Anderson for Brian Elliott in February last season.  After an obnoxiously strong finish to the year Anderson was awarded a Anderson a four-year, $12.75-million deal to prevent him from hitting the free-agent market.

Then Lehner went off and earned himself playoff MVP honours in the AHL while leading the baby Sens to their first ever Calder Cup championship.

Murray was left in a tough spot.  Selling Lehner on staying in Bingo for another year is tough enough … two years?  Forget about it!  So Murray needed to find Anderson a backup willing to sign on for only one year.  As you can imagine, non-up and coming backups typically want a little term in their deals because they’re not destined for stardom and their time could run out any summer.

Auld fit the bill – cheap, one year, and known to many in the organization as he was the backup only two years ago.  Thus we know he’s a good team guy and all that.  He’s also probably good enough to give Anderson a run for the job if Craigy shits the bed like he did in Colorado all of last season until the trade to Ottawa.