The 2003-04 Texarkana Bandits of the North American Hockey League… 11 years in the past, and yet a link is there between Tampa Bay Lightning head coach John Cooper and RW Erik Condra who had been playing with the Ottawa Senators for the length of his career.
Had been; past tense.
Free agency has lured Condra to his old head coach’s stomping grounds as it’s been announced that Condra was signed by the Lightning to a three-year deal with an AAV of $1.25 million. The 6-foot tall 28 year old has 87 career points in 299 NHL games over five seasons with the Ottawa Senators (33 goals, 54 assists) and had played only one full season of games (well, just shy of a full season at 81 games in 2011-12). He played in 68 games last season for Ottawa.
While his point output clearly says he’s not a goal scorer, his plus/minus with Ottawa would suggest he’s a solid defensive forward addition and a solid penalty-killer force for the Senators. He adds some internal competition pressure on the likes of J.T. Brown and other lower-line members of the club…
