SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — On the day he signed free-agent goalie Anders Lindback to a one-year deal, Coyotes general manager Don Maloney offered a telling assessment of Mike Smith’s latest backup.

“I do think Anders is just now starting to realize what he needs to do to play in the NHL,” Maloney said.

Lindback, 27, acknowledges that he has had ups and downs in a career that has spanned four teams in five seasons. He was an up-and-comer in two seasons backing up Pekka Rinne in Nashville, finishing with respective goals against averages of 2.60 and 2.42, and save percentages of .915 and .912. In his final season with Tampa Bay (2013-14), however, his save percentage dipped to a career low .891, and over the first half of last season with Dallas, it fell to .875 in 10 games before the Stars shipped him to Buffalo along with a conditional third-round pick for goalie Jhonas Enroth in February.

“Maybe not playing as much as I was hoping for is why it has taken me a little longer,” said Lindback, who was a backup at every stop before Buffalo. “A lot of it had to do with the last two years, playing every third week. It’s so hard to get into a pace.”

That changed with the Sabres. With Buffalo in full tank mode ahead of the NHL Draft Lottery, Lindback got a chance to play regularly and he didn’t disappoint. In 16 games (15 start) he posted a 2.76 goals against and a .924 save percentage.

“I felt like everything was coming together last year,” he said. “Fortunately for me, I got to play a lot. In the end, I think that was huge for me.”

Even so, Lindback was only able to parlay that finish into a one-year deal with Phoenix for $875,000, which is average money for a backup. Despite showing what he could do in a regular role in a small sample size, Lindback will also have to adjust to life as a backup again.

“If we can get 60 to 65 (games) out of Mike, that would be a really good thing,” Maloney said. “You’ve seen our schedule. We’ve got a lot of back-to-backs early on, which is not ideal.”

The backup situation has been a pretty good one in Arizona the last few seasons. Thomas Greiss made $1 million last season as the backup in Pittsburgh after a good year in Phoenix, and he signed a two-year $3 million deal this summer with the Islanders. Devan Dubnyk earned a shot at the starting role in Minnesota after a promising start in Arizona last season. He parlayed that into six-year, $26 million deal with the Wild this summer.

Lindback won’t have the opportunity to work with longtime Coyotes goalie coach Sean Burke, who departed the organization on July 1 when his contract ran out. He was replaced by Smith’s lifelong goalie coach, Jon Elkin.

But Lindback has ideal size for the position at 6-feet-6 and he plays the en vogue style of staying deep in his crease, but challenging shooters in spots. He hopes to take tips from Smith on puck handling and the Coyotes believe he has the tools to be another in a recent line of effective backups.

“It has been tough playing with a lot of teams, but it’s also been a great experience, getting to see a lot of places, different players and working with different goalie coaches,” Lindback said. “The backup position is really important even though it is difficult when you don’t play a lot. But that’s how it is with every team. You have to earn your chances and show people you deserve a chance to be that guy. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

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