The Canadiens’ offense hasn’t done much this year outside of their top line of Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki, ranking 27th in the league.
As such, Montreal GM Kent Hughes is open to moving out multiple wingers — a group highlighted by two-time 20-goal scorer Josh Anderson — ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
According to Pagnotta, Hughes is also shopping solid shutdown winger Joel Armia and pending UFA Tanner Pearson. It’s not like the Canadiens have a bunch of youngsters chomping at the bit to take their spots — prospects like Sean Farrell and Emil Heineman need some more minor-league development time — but it does behoove them to free up some roster space and gain some assets as they continue their rebuild.
Even though some injuries this season have increased their budget cost, the Canadiens still require the $10.5 million in LTIR relief of de facto retired goaltender Carey Price in order to stay cap-compliant. Even yet, a rebuilding team shouldn’t sign contracts like Anderson’s (a $5.5 million cap charge through 2027), especially given his declining output level.
The 6-foot-3 Anderson, who was once a highly sought-after young power forward, has struggled this season with eight goals and 17 points in 57 games even though he is still playing in the top six, averaging 16:05 a game. Although he is shooting 7.1 percent, much below his career average, his possession numbers are among the lowest on the team; Anderson’s -9.7 anticipated rating is the lowest of any Canadien.
Considering his poor shooting percentage , though, there is hope for some positive goal-scoring regression, which was always one of the more attractive aspects of his game.
Anderson may still have some trade value if the Habs are willing to slash his cap hit down to $2.75M by retaining 50 percent of the remainder of his deal. That’s much closer to what he would earn on the free-agent market if he were a UFA this summer.
Even though Armia’s $3.4 million budget charge through 2025 would probably also need to be retained by Montreal, he most certainly has the best trade value of their three forward assets.
He was mired in the minors to begin the season, but injuries restored his chance to play in the NHL, and he’s performed admirably. With 11 goals this season, he is the only current non-first-line player with double figures for the Habs. He has also played first-unit minutes on their penalty kill and has a 48.2 CF percent at even strength, which ranks sixth among full-time forwards.
When you consider his strong postseason play during Montreal’s journey to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, he seems like a good addition for any contender trying to bolster their fourth line’s defensive capabilities.
Though it’s difficult to see much interest in the 31-year-old’s talents, Pearson is the easiest player to trade, theoretically, because his contract is about to expire. With the Canadiens, he is now limited to a fourth-line role and has a -11 rating in 42 games with five goals and eleven points. To send him out, Hughes would once more need to keep a portion of his $3.25MM cap hit.
The retention restrictions draw attention to a significant issue with the Canadiens’ deadline strategies. There is only one remaining slot available for an extra retained salary transaction because they are still holding salaries under the contracts of Joel Edmundson and Jeff Petry.
The Habs will probably only be able to move one of these players or sign a third party to keep 50% of a contract on another, as none of these players are expected to be moved at full price during the season.
Leave a Reply