OTTAWA — Ottawa Senators goalies could face even fewer shots now that defenseman Andy Sutton is joining a blue-line corps that already features elite shot blocker Anton Volchenkov.
Ottawa acquired Sutton from the New York Islanders on Tuesday in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2010 NHL draft.
Sutton, who turns 35 on March 10, has 34 goals and 101 assists in 567 career games with San Jose, Minnesota, Atlanta and the Islanders. The 6-foot-6 defenseman has 984 penalty minutes in his career, and has posted four goals and eight assists in 54 games with New York this season.
"We wanted to get a little more depth on the blue line and I think Andy fits that need," Senators general manager Bryan Murray said. "I wanted somebody I could look up to — and I have to do that — and then up front with Matt Cullen it gives us the versatility that I talked about so it doesn't appear there's much more going to happen. But who knows at the end of the day what might stick its head up and maybe be available."
Sutton's 153 blocked shots this season are second overall in the league. Volchenkov leads the Senators with 137.
"Now the goaltenders don't have to be as good," Murray said. "We hope that they block lots of shots, and they will, and they're both very forceful guys in their own end. We felt that we had enough mobility to have a guy like Andy come in with [Volchenkov] still here and it would work."
Sutton did not play for the Senators in Tuesday night's game against the New York Rangers. He was expected to arrive in Ottawa later in the evening.
"It's an unbelievable opportunity," Sutton said. "That's the first thing I said to Bryan, I thanked him so much for the opportunity. Being an older player and getting the chance to play on such a great team and have a chance to win the Stanley Cup is a dream come true."
The second-round draft choice obtained by the Islanders originally belonged to San Jose, which dealt the pick to Ottawa as part of the Sept. 12 trade in which the Senators sent Dany Heatley to the Sharks for Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo.