Senators' Anderson not expected to return for a while, says Boucher

The Ottawa Senators aren't planning on welcoming Craig Anderson back to the fold anytime soon.

The team's starting goalie remains on a leave of absence while his wife Nicholle undergoes treatment for throat cancer, and head coach Guy Boucher indicated Wednesday a return is far from imminent.

"What’s fair to say for you, and for everybody to know, is it’s going to take a while before he’s back," Boucher said, per Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun. "When he’s back, he’s going to need quite a bit of time to practice and get into game situations. It’s been a while now. It’s not like it’s been a week. It’s been a long time.

"We have to be fair to him when he comes back, whenever that is, give him the time to get back in game shape and timing-wise. We’re looking at a long period here."

Anderson hasn't played since Dec. 5, and with Andrew Hammond week to week with an ankle injury, Ottawa's crease currently belongs to Mike Condon.

That Condon has played well eases any pressure potentially placed on Anderson to return.

"We want (the Andersons) to take care of what they need to take care of and right now they’re obviously in the middle of things and I’m sure it’s very difficult," said Boucher. "I don’t want to add on by saying, ‘He should be here’ and put pressure (on the family)."

With Anderson and Hammond both unavailable, it's possible that Matt O'Connor will be called upon to make his second career NHL start sometime in the near future.