4. Frederik Andersen
Team: Anaheim Ducks Age: 26 Status: RFA
2015-2016 stats: GP: 43 W: 22 L: 9 OT: 4 SO: 3 GAA: 2.30 SV%: .919
More often than not, restricted free agents re-sign with their respective clubs. Andersen represents an interesting case, however. Since the 2014 playoffs, he has found himself in a timeshare situation with John Gibson in the Anaheim net.
Though their regular season split was pretty close, it was Andersen got the majority of the work in the playoffs. That being said, Gibson (who was an All-Star last season), is locked up for the next three years at an affordable cap hit of $2.3 million/per. The Ducks may want to eliminate the crease controversy and hand over the reins.
If the Ducks do want to retain Andersen, then they probably won’t be willing to pay him much more than Gibson. If he were an unrestricted free agent, he would command far more than what Anaheim would likely be willing to pay. Unfortunately, he’s not; and while teams would be willing to give up some compensation, they likely won’t be willing to part with the first and third-round picks they would have to if they signed him to anything over $3,652,659 (note: compensation based on last year’s numbers). Don’t rule out the Ducks trading his rights.
Estimated cost: $2.5-3.5 million per season.
