YOU VOTED! Should The Canadiens Trade Josh Anderson?

The Montreal Canadiens are never shy of a few rumors involving virtually any player on their current roster. We mentioned the Toronto Maple Leafs being highly interested in Ben Chiarot, and we mentioned the rumor that Tyler Toffoli could be headed to Calgary, which ended up being correct. The latest rumor involves power forward Josh Anderson.

The gritty 6’3″ 227 lbs right winger has always drawn plenty of interest around the NHL. Players of his size and skill don’t show up at every corner. Many General Managers have expressed interest in the 27 year old despite his offensive inconsistencies and his history of injuries.

His current cap hit of $5.5 million that runs until the end of the 2026-27 season, which also includes an 8 team no trade list until 2024 and a 5 team no trade list until 2027, does however make a few people nervous. Power Forwards have notoriously shorter careers than the norm and this contract would take Anderson to his age 33 season when he hits free agency. He can very well be on his way out of hockey by then unless he adapts to a different role.

All that being said, Josh Anderson is valuable to the current edition of the Canadiens in many ways and that has been proven by a recent Twitter poll we conducted.

In a poll that generated over 1000 votes, 55.8% of you said they did not want to see Josh Anderson traded. Some of the comments left were very interesting and frankly, on point.

This is an excellent point as some people tend to forget that a rebuild does not necessarily mean we have to get rid of every player. Some players like Anderson want to stay here and are very respected in the locker room and can prove to be excellent mentors for the younger players. Even our own John Wiens chirped in with a similar agreement.

As previously mentioned:

There are some however that are very open to trading Anderson at almost any cost.

The Brendan Gallagher mention is an interesting one because despite his loyalty and history with the team, many are ready to give him up in a trade because of, you guessed it, his contract. A $6.5 million cap hit which also runs until 2027 for a small gritty player with a history of recent serious injuries is overpaying. No matter how good a leader you are. That being said, the Canadiens need veterans on the team that can lead by example.

It’s one thing to have skill, but you can’t buy experience obtained on and off the ice.