Frederik Andersen isn't going around trying to convince people he could still be the Edmonton Oilers' unimpeachable No. 1 goalie, which is what a lot of veteran players usually spend free agency talking about.
They say they need fresh starts, that they are proving people wrong. What Andersen talked about is playing fewer games.
"I played 66 games in a row (with Toronto), a couple years in a row," Andersen said during a Zoom call. "I think those days are probably over for me. I'm definitely happy to be part of a good goalie rotation. It's been a new thing in the NHL. You've got to keep it fresh and really get the best out of each other that way."
If anything, Andersen sounded like a player who had already accepted something the rest of the league has been slowly accepting for years.
Thirty starts isn't a demotion anymore.
A decade ago, it probably would've felt that way. Teams wanted one guy, and if your starter wasn't playing 65 games, somebody inevitably started asking why.
Now you look around the league, and it feels like everyone's trying to build the same thing Carolina and Buffalo already figured out. More teams are getting away from asking one goalie to carry the season because the schedule doesn't really allow for it anymore.
"I think it's going to become more common in the coming years," Stan Bowman said. "Buffalo and Carolina, they both had a lot of success (last season). It's been uncommon, for sure, in the past. But the way the schedule goes, in the modern game, goalies just aren't playing 60, 70 games a year."
That's part of what made Edmonton attractive.
Anderson had other options. Coming off a Stanley Cup has a way of opening doors, even at 36 years old.
Age closes a few of them, too.
General managers will tell you experience matters until they're choosing between a veteran and a 24-year-old they think might become something more. A younger goalie wants the crease. He wants to prove he can play 50 games, maybe more. But Andersen's already done that; he knows what it feels like to carry that workload, and he knows why it's no longer realistic.
"Maybe age had something to do with that," Andersen said. "That's how it went. This was an opportunity I could go to Edmonton. I think the deal is structured in a way that's going to help the team have some flexibility in terms of the bonuses they can put forward to next year."
Players don't usually disclose the specifics around their bonuses and when they get them, least of all to a new group of reporters. They talk about feeling great, feeling young, feeling better than ever. So you know he's honest.
The Oilers already had Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi. Bringing Andersen into that mix offers security, competition, and some trust in the organization.
"I don't think there's a big benefit in anointing one guy as the No. 1 in July. Or even in November," Bowman said. "You've got to win games, and whoever can help you win those games, we'll figure that out."
The Oilers spent a long time looking for the guy. The goalie who answers everything for them. The Connor McDavid of netminders.
Probably for the best that they've stopped chasing that idea.
It also doesn't hurt that Andersen has already spent time with Mike Babcock.
A new coach always comes with adjustments, but there won't be much mystery there. Andersen knows how Babcock likes to work, and Babcock knows the best ways to push Andersen without taking it too far, if he's capable of that.
"Edmonton has been knocking on the door for a while now," Andersen said. "They've been close. It would be awesome to be part of the team to get over the hump. They're very serious about it."
Andersen found a team that still expects to contend, one that wasn't asking him to turn back the clock or pretend he's 29 again. He'll split the net. Some nights it'll be Jarry. Some nights it'll be Andersen. If Devon Levi forces his way into the picture, that's probably a good problem to have.
You don't hear many players speak as openly about where they are in their careers.
Listening to Andersen on Monday, it never felt like he was trying to sell anyone on what he used to be. He sounded comfortable talking about what he can still be.
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