The Montreal Canadiens are approaching the trade deadline and are expected to garner some attention from contending teams in the coming days.
General Manager Kent Hughes will be working the phones leading up to Friday’s trade deadline. He has his work cut out for him, however, because the majority of his veterans have little trade value due to their high cap hits and low point totals.
Still, players such as David Savard, Joel Armia, and Jake Allen will be of interest to other teams, but it remains to be seen whether a deal can be arranged. Another veteran appears to be mentioned in trade calls yet again.
Josh Anderson was the focus of interest leading up to last year’s trade deadline and the NHL Draft. He had been scoring 20-25 goals every season for the previous two seasons and possesses a rare combination of speed and size. He attracted contending teams last season, but his $5.5 million cap hit, which does not expire until 2017, was not ideal.
So he stayed in Montréal. Given his lengthy scoring slumps this season, and the fact that he now has eight goals and 17 points in 57 appearances, you’d think interest in the 29-year-old winger had waned.
However, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Anderson’s name has surfaced in trade speculations, and he is once again available. He also mentions that Anderson’s play and cap hit make a deal unlikely to happen.
Anderson’s current value appears to be at an all-time low. Getting a contract done to reduce his budget hit would be fantastic news for the Canadiens, who are paying him $8 million this season, putting him in the Scott Gomez region of one million dollars per goal scored on the season.
Anderson once had some worth, but don’t expect this trade to go through.
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