Production/salary ratio: Anderson and Gallagher, the league’s worst veterans

It seems that my colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois and I were illuminated by the same divine light yesterday morning.

At 8:48 a.m., Charles penned a text in which he pointed out that Josh Anderson has only 15 points so far this season… nine of them in October (and six in every other month of the season, that is).

Two and a half hours later, I came to a rather flat conclusionwith Brendan Gallagher: Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have a problem for which there is no real solution.

Unfortunately, the Habs’ two veteran forwards have cap hits of $5.5 and $6.5 million respectively… and three years left on each contract. Aside from Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, they’re the team’s highest-paid forwards. But they don’t produce.

Josh Anderson probably should have been traded a few years ago.

As for Brendan Gallagher, Marc Bergevin should have kept his latest contract offer in a private drive on his Google account instead of sending it to Gally’ s agent while holding back tears. #Emotions

Many fans defend Gallagher and Anderson, saying they are good veterans who show the young players the right way…

But both Gallagher and Anderson seem dissatisfied with their playing time and their new role on Martin St-Louis’ team. Are they really showing the younger players the right way?

JB Gagné, part-time writer for DLC and host of the Le Puck podcast, has unearthed a statistic that says a lot about Gallagher and Anderson’s offensive contribution: Of the 88 NHL forwards who earn an average annual salary of $5.5 million or more and have played in at least 45 games this season, Gallagher (16) and Anderson (15) rank 87th and 88th respectively, with their production of 16 and 15 points.

And if you do a little research on CapFriendly, you’ll find that the Habs’ two forwards aren’t about to overtake anyone else in the rankings.

Worst of all, they’re each earning a real salary of $8 million this season, more than their respective cap hits.

Slafkovsky, Suzuki, Caufield, Struble, Guhle, Newhook… youngsters aren’t the problem with the Habs right now. It’s veterans like Gallagher, Anderson, Allen and company who will have to give more if the Habs are ever to aspire to the big time. Because their value will only drop, and drop… and drop again on the market, if they don’t.

At least the veteran defenders are delivering the goods. #Matheson #Savard

Of course, the guys – both young and old – will also have to stay healthy for a full season. But that’s another debate.

Gossip

– Where do you stand?

– The other side of the Messi coin.

– Joshua Roy did the same.

– Things are hopping in the NHL.

– He skated this morning and will play tonight.

Habs forward ready for tonight’s game pic.twitter.com/vKucgdeIKv

– DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) February 21, 2024

– MLS and Apple: several journalists and descriptors have become fan boys of the league.

Great article you need to read before the season starts

Since MLS Season Pass debuted in 2023, we’ve seen two major developments:
First, we’ve lost a lot of dissenting voices to MLS who could be relied on in previous years to speak their mind.
Second, the vast…

– Nilton Jorge (@NiltonJorge) February 21, 2024