Anderson mulls future with Senators, may retire if season doesn't resume

Craig Anderson wonders if he's played his final game with the Ottawa Senators, if not the last of his NHL career.

The goalie said Wednesday he is preparing himself as if the NHL season will resume, though there is no timetable for when that might happen after it was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. If it does restart, Anderson said he remains hungry to play. If not, he doesn't know if he will retire.

"I'm kind of trying to stay in the moment as best I can," Anderson said. "[And] focus on the what-ifs with what we are going through as far as the current season. … Can we get back and finish our season?"

Anderson, who turns 39 on May 21, can become an unrestricted free agent after this season but said he isn't looking that far ahead.

"We'll cross the bridge of the future down the road, but for right now I miss the game like crazy," he said. "I want to be on the ice. I want to be with my teammates. Right now that is the way I'm leaning, is that I want to compete and love what I do every day."

Anderson said he knew the Senators' 3-2 loss at the Los Angeles Kings on March 11 might have been his final game with Ottawa. Anderson, in his 10th season with the Senators, is their leader games by a goalie (435) and wins, having gone 202-168-46 with a 2.84 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.

He is 11-17-2 this season with a 3.25 GAA and .902 save percentage.

"I'm just kind of rolling with things right now and let the chips fall where they may," Anderson said. "As an individual, I am hopeful that we are able to get back and play and finish the year, but it's out of my control.

"If it was something that maybe I did to [mess] things up for myself, I'd be in a different boat, but right now I'm not too concerned about it. [My future] is not in my control, so I don't want to put too much energy in that kind of stuff."

Anderson, who is 289-251-67 with two ties in 17 NHL seasons with the Senators, Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche. said he has a plan for life after his playing days.

"There's always going to be an involvement with motor sports at some point," Anderson said. "The track is where my brother and dad and I go. It's our place."

Anderson, who has raced stock cars at tracks in the Ottawa Valley, has found a way to channel his love of racing during the pandemic. His company A41 eSports is running simulated races that the public can participate in.

"The virtual world, sim racing, pro drivers go on there and refine their tools without going to the track," he said. "I'd like to think I'm using the sim racing for learning different tracks, different cars. We'll see where it goes."