‘We’re growing as a team,’ Canadiens playoff driver Josh Anderson says
It didn’t seem long ago that Josh Anderson was linked to trade speculation.
But, in the final season of his seven-year, US$38.5-million contract, the 32-year-old power forward has been named a Canadiens alternate captain, replacing Brendan Gallagher, who was traded to the Vancouver Canucks.
While that doesn’t necessarily mean Anderson will re-sign with Montreal, the Canadiens have sent the 6-foot-3, 226-pounder a clear message about the respect they have for him and his importance to the team.
And none of that has been lost on the native of Burlington, Ont., who joins defenceman Mike Matheson as an alternate captain under Nick Suzuki.
“I’m very humbled to have this opportunity,” Anderson said Monday before the Canadiens’ annual golf tournament. “We have a lot of good leaders in the locker room that have matured so quickly.”
Anderson learned he was getting an “A” on his jersey two weeks ago from head coach Martin St. Louis, whose four-year contract extension also was announced Monday.
“Any time you go into the coach’s room, you don’t know what to expect,” Anderson quipped.
Acquired from Columbus in a 2020 trade for Max Domi and a third-round draft pick that season, Anderson was signed to his contract two days later by former general manager Marc Bergevin.
With the Canadiens near the bottom of the overall standings at the 2023 trade deadline — and with the team about to miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season — speculation swirled that Anderson would be traded for prospects, especially amid a 21-goal season.
We’ll never know whether management seriously considered moving on from Anderson. And while he has struggled to produce offensively at times — and to score on breakaways — Anderson has been a key component of the Canadiens’ success.
While he had a modest 14 goals and nine assists in 72 games last season, Anderson was a major factor behind the Canadiens’ deep playoff run to the Eastern Conference final.
Anderson is one of the team’s most physical forwards, and his unrelenting blue-collar style — despite his status as a bottom-six winger — has been invaluable during the post-season. In 19 playoff games last season, he had five goals and two assists. Only Alex Newhook, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky scored more goals.
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“The way (Anderson) carries himself. The way he treats his teammates. The way he plays,” Suzuki said on Monday. “He does everything for the benefit of the team. You saw how big of an impact he had in the playoffs. When he’s playing that way, he’s tough to stop. It’s great to have him in the leadership group. He has obviously been a big part of it for a long time. This is well deserved.”
Despite averaging 14:01 of ice time, he was among the team leaders in hits, with 129, while accumulating 90 penalty minutes. Anderson believes the Canadiens’ final-four appearance was the tip of the iceberg.
“I think we have a lot of potential,” he said. “We had a good year last year. I think we’re growing as a team. This year, there’s obviously high expectations on us individually as players.
“I just think we’re getting a lot more experienced. I think it’s going to be important for us this year to be more detailed in our game. You saw it a little bit last year, how during that Carolina series they kept coming at us, each and every line. Marty’s approach since becoming head coach is that every play matters. It does, especially when you get into those meaningful games. But I think we’ve grown so much as a group and matured as a team.”
Anderson has never hidden his desire to remain with the organization. He said he believes things will work out and contract negotiations will begin shortly. He’s willing to accept any role given to him by St. Louis, who placed significance on Anderson’s penalty-killing duties heading into the 2024-25 season, hoping that would alleviate the stress on him to score goals.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team win,” Anderson said. “Everybody’s going to have to accept their situation and put their egos aside … no matter where you’re put in the lineup.
“We have a lot of good players on this team. It’s going to be a fight each and every night to be in that lineup. When you have a lot of guys pushing for more ice time, I think it makes the compete level a lot higher.”
