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That much was made clear by Boucher following the loss when he was asked about the decision by the organization to get Nilsson.

“It’s been tough because we haven’t had (Condon),” Boucher said. “When you’re missing your NHL backup, it has an impact on your team, and over a long period of time we didn’t know what was going to happen.

Photo by Tony Caldwell / Postmedia

“Knowing now that it was going to be longer, (the trade) was a must I think and Pierre acted on it. Now, we’ve got an NHL backup that’s coming to help us.”

The issue for the Senators is Anderson hasn’t made much progress since he suffered the head injury on Dec. 21 versus the New Jersey Devils. At the time, the Senators felt he’d be back right after the Christmas break, but that never materialized.

He didn’t take part in the skills competition Thursday night at the Canadian Tire Centre and he’s going to have to skate with the team before there’s any chance of a return. The hope was, earlier in the week, he’d play on the weekend, but that’s not going to happen.

That’s why the Senators wanted a goalie with an NHL resumé.

Is Nilsson the future in the club’s net? Probably not, but at 28 years old with this year left on his deal, it gives the Senators a chance to evaluate him. If he can get the job done, they can look at next year. If not, they can move on.

The Senators, who have been looking for depth in goal since Condon went down with an injury in Belleville after clearing waivers on Oct. 31, want to see what they’ve got in Nilsson.