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David Pagnotta: “There are teams looking for Josh Anderson”.
Credit: Josh Anderson must return to base.

We’re getting closer and closer to the NHL trade deadline. For the Habs, with Sean Monahan gone, the club doesn’t necessarily have any big fish to sell… so March 8 could be pretty quiet in Montreal.

It seems unlikely that Jake Allen or Tanner Pearson will leave, and unless a club offers the moon for David Savard or interest resumes in Cayden Primeau, it’s likely to be a fairly quiet day for Kent Hughes.

Barring a turnaround, then, we’re not likely to see a big name leave Montreal… but turnarounds are always possible.

And this lunchtime, on TSN 690, David Pagnotta talked about one player: Josh Anderson. And he did so with the following sentence:

There are teams looking at Josh Anderson, and there have been internal discussions across the league. – David Pagnotta

Pagnotta explains that some clubs think a change of scenery could possibly revive Anderson and that there’s still a good hockey player to emerge. It’ s a bit like what Louis Jean said recently: a big power forward like Andersonis seen as a playoff player by many clubs.

The tipster also adds that the market for #17 hasn’t really changed since last year… but the problem is, the clubs that can afford him are pretty rare.

Anderson remains a $5.5M player for this season and the next three… and his 16 points in 54 games don’t exactly inspire dreams.

Basically, if the Habs want to sell Anderson to another club, they’ll probably have to take a bad contract (or contracts) in return. That said, if the club can win on term (for example, taking on guys whose contracts expire this summer or next, and not in the summer of 2027 like Anderson), that might be an avenue to consider.

We’ll have to be very creative, and that’s kind of the conclusion Pagnotta comes to… but you never know, after all. And if not by March 8, it may be an avenue to reconsider this summer, when clubs will have more salary leeway.


In bursts

– Reminiscent of what Martin St-Louis had to say.

– Enjoy.

– Lindy Ruff comes out on top, in my opinion.

– Still.

– Love it.

– This week’s episode of my podcast is available, for those interested.

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