The Montreal Canadiens had a season to forget in 2021-22, falling to last in the NHL standings. Part of the disappointment in Montreal this past season was not just due to the performance of the team as a whole, but also of the individual players.
Winger Josh Anderson is one of those Canadiens whose 2021-22 production was a reason for disappointment. While he showed flashes of goal-scoring touch and ended up fifth on the team in points, Anderson’s 19-goal, 32-point marks are definitely on the low end of what former GM Marc Bergevin had in mind when he signed Anderson to a $5.5M AAV contract. With all that being said, this season’s disappointing production apparently hasn’t stopped Anderson from being a hot name on the trade market.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported as part of his Trade Targets Board that GM Kent Hughes’ “phone rang consistently with teams inquiring about Anderson.” Seravalli adds that the Canadiens have “resisted” the urge to trade Anderson, but that interest did exist on the part of the inquiring teams. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic shed some light on the situation as well, reporting that Montreal “turned down some serious offers” for Anderson and that GM’s around the league “keep asking about him,” but that the Canadiens “aren’t planning on trading” their power forward.
Evidently, Anderson’s rare combination of size and speed is tantalizing enough for other teams to make “serious offers” for Anderson despite his somewhat underwhelming production. While these reports do indicate that Montreal is hesitant to trade Anderson, it’s clear that his situation will be one to monitor once the offseason trade market begins in full.
Now, for some other news regarding teams in the Atlantic Division:
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