Contract Extension: Josh Anderson Is Confident That Negotiations Will Begin Soon

Raphael Simard
Contract Extension: Josh Anderson Is Confident That Negotiations Will Begin Soon
Credit: Capture d'écran/YouTube

Josh Anderson is a key player for the Canadiens. We saw that during the last playoffs: he's dynamic and a power forward.

I don't know if Montreal would have made it to the semifinals without him. This summer, he was rewarded for his hard work, having been named captain following Brendan Gallagher's departure. He could potentially serve as assistant captain for just one year, as he'll become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

However, he really loves the city and the team and wants to stay. He's confident that negotiations between his agent and the team will begin soon. That's according to a report by Eric Engels (Sportsnet) on the matter.

Since 2020, Anderson has been earning $5.5 million per season. For a 30-point player, that's a pretty substantial amount, and this contract was once a huge deal for the organization. But with the skyrocketing salary cap and annual salaries paid to players, $5.5 million is no longer the end of the world.

So much so that another contract in that range is possible for the forward, who will turn 33 next May. We now know his ceiling and what he can bring to the team. He'll never be the top-6 forward Marc Bergevin wanted him to become, but he's incredibly important to the club because of his leadership, toughness, and competitiveness—especially in the playoffs.

In his article, which also discusses a future UFA (Alexandre Carrier), Engels mentions a two-year contract extension. As noted, Anderson is getting older and has a lot of mileage under his belt.

He could probably command a better deal than the market rate—at least in terms of salary—over this short period, and one imagines he'd want to, given the crucial importance of players like Anderson to success in the playoffs. – Eric Engels

Andy loves Montreal and, in an ideal world, would like to stay there. He certainly wasn't going to say otherwise publicly, but if he wants to remain in a winning culture, he still has a place in the city. He'll have to leave a little money on the table, though, just as Lane Hutson, Ivan Demidov, and just about everyone else has done.


In a nutshell

– He's right.

– Oh, really?

– Good to know.

– Trade.

– Note.

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