At last, since the recent signing of the latest goaltending sensation in Ottawa, Andrew Hammond, as well as signing Boston University goalie Matt O’Connor the buzz in the Ottawa Senators organization has been all around their other two mainstay goaltenders of Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner. Finally, general manager Bryan Murray has found a suitable trade partner in shipping Robin Lehner with veteran forward, David Legwand, to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a 2015 first round draft pick, 21st overall.
The #Sens have acquired a first-round pick (21st overall) from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Robin Lehner and David Legwand.
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) June 26, 2015
Robin Lehner was drafted by the Ottawa Senators back in 2009 at 46th overall. Since then, Lehner has shown he’s a true competitor putting on great performances in the AHL and NHL. Although there is an exception in the last couple of seasons where Lehner has struggled a bit with consistency and injuries, there is still plenty of potential left within this young goaltender, becoming 24 years of age this summer. Lehner’s best season in the NHL came off in the shortened 2012-13 season, where he appeared in 12 games, launching a 5-3-4 record with a goals against average of 2.20 and a dandy of a save percentage at .936. During that season when the lockout was occuring, Lehner was able to appear in 36 games for Ottawa’s AHL affiliate the Binghamton Senators. He showed up for 31 games, nailing 18 wins. The best part of his stint in the ‘A’ was his three shutouts, 2.12 goals against, and his .938 save percentage.
For any team looking to rebuild, Lehner is a great fit who will only improve as time goes by and obtains more experience.
Before the likes of Andrew Hammond and Matt O’Connor showing up, it was expected that Robin would become the goaltender of the future in Ottawa. However it’s obvious this isn’t the case anymore but he still very well could be a future starting goaltender for any team.
Despite his size, coming in at 6’4″ and 225 lbs, Lehner is a very mobile butterfly style goaltender. As well, Robin has two years remaining on his contract with a cap hit of a mere $2.225 million before he becomes a restricted free agent in the summer of 2017.
The Senators will not retain any salary in the deal.
Tweet courtesy of the official Ottawa Senators twitter account.
