Alex is out, Craig is in

From the Palm Beach Post-

A year ago at this time goaltender Alex Auld was the heir apparent to Roberto Luongo. Now he's an ex-Panther.

On Monday Auld was left off coach Jacques Martin's list of six players who will receive qualifying offers from the Panthers for the upcoming season.

The team instead signed backup goalie Craig Anderson to a two-year contract believed to be worth slightly more than $1 million.



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The choice of Anderson over Auld was partly about saving money under the salary cap - savings that amount to about $1 million per season - but also Martin's conviction that Anderson, who played in 29 games for Chicago two years ago and five for Florida last year, can be a viable No. 2 goalie.

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Auld played well early last season but appeared to lose his confidence and then sustained a knee injury. He finished with a 7-13-5 record and a 3.35 goals-against average.

Releasing Auld is further proof of how disastrous the Roberto Luongo deal was for the Panthers. Bertuzzi and Auld are both gone now.

As to Auld's play last year, it stunk. His Goals against average was horrible, as was his record in goal. Part of the latter can be attributed to the Panthers lack of punch, but Auld's play was never very good in most games.

Unless someone emerges from the Panther farm system, the team's goaltending will be in the hands of Tomas Vokoun and Craig Anderson for the 2007-08 season. That should be good news.

Linked to- Bright & Early, The World According to Carl,