Reunion with Babcock and Team Dynamics
The signing reunites Andersen with newly appointed head coach Mike Babcock, who coached him during his prime years with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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“I think my experience with him has been good,” Andersen said.
“As a goalie you don’t really deal with the head coach as much and he kind of leaves you alone with the goalie coach to kind of do your thing.
He’s a great coach, great X’s and O’s. I thought he got a lot out of our group.”
Andersen noted that the team dynamic in Toronto during his initial seasons under Babcock consisted of a very different roster composition.
“We were a young team then and I’m excited to see what we can do together in this new opportunity,” he said.
Adapting to Modern Schedule
Andersen acknowledged that the evolution of NHL scheduling makes distributed workloads preferable for sustaining elite performance.
“I think that’s something that’s not going to be a day-to-day thing, but something we’re going to have to manage,” he said.
“The schedule has been very different from what it used to be, and I think the game has changed as well, and it makes it more demanding to play a lot of games and still perform the way you want to.”
He expressed readiness to work alongside Jarry and Levi under goaltending coach Peter Aubry.
“However it plays out, it’s tough to predict, but I’m ready to support the other guys and play when called upon and I think that’s something we’ll all lean on each other and figure out with Peter (Aubry, goaltending coach) and (Babcock) too,” Andersen said.
