Senators send goalie Condon to Bolts for Callahan contract
OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators traded goalie Mike Condon to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday for the contract of veteran forward Ryan Callahan.
Callahan has one season left on his deal and was placed on longterm injured reserve after suffering a career-ending back injury and a degenerative back disease diagnosis this past season.
As part of the transaction, the Senators will also receive Tampa Bay’s fifth-round draft pick in the 2020 National Hockey League draft while the Lightning will receive Ottawa’s sixth-round selection.
By trading Condon, the Senators have set the stage for veteran goalie Craig Anderson and Anders Nilsson, who agreed to a two-year extension in May, to share netminding duties in Ottawa. Filip Gustavsson, Marcus Hogberg and Joey Daccord will play net for Ottawa’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville, Ont.
“We believe we have the right mix of goaltenders both for the upcoming season and the future,” said general manager Pierre Dorion. “We are pleased with how our young goaltenders have been developing in Belleville, so this trade allows us to focus on continuing their growth at a proper pace while keeping two established goaltenders here in Ottawa. Our cap flexibility allowed us to proceed with this trade, which will also benefit us as we continue making adjustments to create a hardworking, exciting team.”
The Lightning placed Callahan on long-term injured reserve on June 20.
He appeared in 52 games last season, finishing with seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points. He has 186 goals and 386 points in 757 career games with Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers.
Callahan’s cap hit is US$5.8 million, but he’ll make $4.7 million in real money. However, because he is on long-term injured reserve, insurance will pick up 80 per cent of his salary, meaning the Senators will actually have to pay approximately $940,000 of his contract. Condon will earn $3 million next season but his cap hit is $2.4 million.
Tampa Bay is extraordinarily deep in net. The Lightning signed Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy to an eight-year, $76-million contract extension on Monday. Condon joins Louis Domingue, Curtis McElhinney, Scott Wedgewood and Spencer Martin as goalies under contract with Tampa that could play as a potential backup to Vasilevskiy. The Lightning also have former Montreal Canadiens goalie prospect Zach Fucale signed to an American Hockey League deal.