The Minnesota Wild have signed unrestricted free agent Andrew Hammond. Financial terms of the deal have not yet been released.
Hearing #mnwild will sign goalie Andrew Hammond to compete with Alex Stalock for the Wild backup/Iowa No. 1 spot
And, as I've previously reported, Greg Pateryn and Eric Fehr will be signing with the Wild
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) July 1, 2018
Andrew Hammond Heading to the Minnesota Wild
After four years with Bowling Green, the undrafted Andrew Hammond signed his first professional contract with the Ottawa Senators at the start of the 2013-14 season. Although he’s never played more than 24 games at the NHL level, the affectionately nicknamed “Hamburglar” has quite a reputation.
In 2014-15, Hammond received an opportunity late in the season to start for Ottawa thanks to Craig Anderson going down to injury. He then rattled off a 20-1-2 record to propel the team to a highly unlikely playoff berth. The next year, he came back to earth and was outperformed by Anderson.
Relegated again to the minors, Hammond became a sweetener in arguably the biggest blockbuster trade of the 2017-18 season. The trade sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa, Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators, and the kitchen sink to Colorado Avalanche. Hammond was one part of the kitchen sink, along with various prospects and draft picks from both Nashville and Ottawa.
Opportunity for Andrew Hammond
Although he has been splitting time between the AHL and NHL levels, Hammond has shown he is capable of winning at the highest level. His playoff push with Ottawa a few years ago proved that. In the very limited action he saw in Colorado this last season, he was strong again. Specifically, he made a career-high 44 saves in Game 5 of the first round series against the Nashville Predators. The 2-1 final score in favour of the Avalanche was largely thanks to his performance, which unexpectedly extended the series one more game. If Hammond can do this more consistently, he will find himself with a permanent job in the NHL.
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