Staring down a brand new season with the Carolina Hurricanes, goaltender Frederik Andersen took a moment to fondly contemplate his time in the city where he spent the last half-decade.
Well, except for one glaring thing.
"I'm obviously not happy with what we accomplished in the playoffs. Everyone knows that we wanted more out of that, especially this year. We had a really good team," the former Toronto Maple Leafs netminder said Thursday on "Good Show" with Sportsnet's JD Bunkis.
The underperforming Maple Leafs were bounced in the first round of the playoffs in four of Andersen's five seasons; during the 2019-20 postseason, the Columbus Blue Jackets eliminated the squad in the qualifiers before the opening round even began.
The 31-year-old bore the brunt of the criticism as Toronto struggled for a whiff of playoff success, but Andersen didn't mind the harsh spotlight.
"(Goaltenders) always get probably more of the credit than we deserve, same goes with the blame. That's just something that comes with the territory," Andersen said. "I never really felt that it was too unfair, I had pretty high expectations for myself ... I think, in general, fans appreciated me. I definitely appreciated the time in Toronto as well."
Andersen's ride with the Leafs ended unceremoniously. He started 23 games and played through injury this past campaign as both he and breakout goaltender Jack Campbell struggled to stay healthy.
"The way I dealt with things, playing through pain like that and injury, it wasn't the best idea long term, looking back," he said. "I definitely don't think I was making the right move in trying to keep playing."
Andersen didn't see any game action during Toronto's first-round exit against the Montreal Canadiens, which he said "was obviously not fun," but added that he respected the coaching staff's decision to run with Campbell.
In his first three seasons as a Leaf, Andersen was notoriously one of the busiest goalies in the league, starting an average of 64 games per campaign and leading his position with 6,221 shots faced.
"Over those five years, I felt like I left it all out there for Toronto, and it just doesn't always go the way you're imagining it. That’s how sports are," he said.
Andersen inked a two-year deal worth $9 million with the Hurricanes in July and said he is ready to start his new chapter.
"Toronto never really became that serious to offering anything," he said. "I was just really grateful and happy that I was able to go to a good team like Carolina.
"A breath of fresh air would be good, so that's really what I look forward to instead of looking too far backward," Andersen added.
