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Josh Anderson makes life (very) difficult for his teammates

I don’t think I’m telling you anything new when I say that Josh Anderson has had a miserable start to the season.

In 11 games this season, the power forward has yet to find the back of the net and has collected just one assist.

And it’s not because he hasn’t had any chances.

He started the season on the first line alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

When Anderson was their trio-mate, the two young players didn’t have the best of times.

He then spent time on the second and third trios.

Once again, his trio-mates didn’t perform very well.

Here’s a very interesting statistic showing the percentage of goals expected from #17’s trio-mates.

The first column shows the percentage with Anderson on the ice and the second shows the statistic without him on the ice.

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The difference is incredible, ranging from 14% to 23%.

Josh Anderson is definitely a liability for his teammates.

It was obvious that he wasn’t off to the best start to the season, but this statistic just goes to show what a nuisance he is on the ice.

As Billy Bertrand reports in his RDS piece, Juraj Slafkovsky’s setbacks at his side can be explained by the veteran’s presence.

The big Slovak took a while to score his first goal of the season (last night), but that’s not because he wasn’t creating chances.

He just wasn’t in a position to collect points because Anderson wasn’t converting his chances.

The idea of trading him is making more and more sense.

Last year, many were reluctant to trade him, since power forwards with his speed are hard to come by.

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His player profile is a perfect ” match ” for a club hoping to go far in the playoffs.

Powerhorses like Anderson are highly coveted in the NHL, but in a competitive club, Anderson is a third-tier player at best.

With an average salary of $5.5 million a year, that’s a lot of money for a third-trio player.

The Habs would have to withhold a portion of his salary to make his return more attractive, which would be a little ridiculous, given that Anderson’s contract expires in 2027…

It would be more than surprising if Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton decided to withhold salary from Anderson, but the possibility of trading him is making more and more sense.

In any case, he’s just a nuisance to young players trying to establish themselves as impact players, like Juraj Slafkovsky and Alex Newhook.

But his usefulness in the playoffs may still attract some clubs, at a price too, of course.

In your opinion, should the power forward be traded this season?

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