Team: 2022-23 Montreal Canadiens

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 3, 2022

Published: Jul. 3, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

I obviously wouldn’t do that trade I were the Sens, but I genuinely believe Dorion would be keen to doing this type of trade irl. Before storming to the comments, just hear me out and think of the possibility of this trade going through irl as opposed to the actual value going both sides in the deal.

Yes, Anderson doesn’t have the best analytics. Yes, he doesn’t produce all that much points. Yes, his game can be pretty one/dimensional at times. However, not all NHL executives think the game like we do. While we’d consider Anderson to be overrated and overpaid, many NHL GMs are nevertheless in on him right now as he’s clearly garnering a lot of interest across the league from many teams. Why is that the case? Simple. Anderson is a rare type of player that boomers love. He’s incredibly fast, has *some* skill, is super physical and can score goals. He’s basically a modern 2nd line power forward in that sense. Therefore, his perceived value by NHL GMs is probably way higher than it should be, making it so it’s basically guaranteed the Habs will net at least a late first in assets for him.

Ottawa has made it clear that pick 7 is available and that they would want a top 6 RW or a top 4 RHD in return that can help improve their lineup right now and be a part of their core for the foreseeable future. Anderson fits the bill, especially considering he’s 28 and plays the type of game that Dorion loves. Heck, he drafted Tyler Boucher at 10th overall last year, that should say enough considering Boucher plays an Anderson-esque game, which was probably the only reason he was drafted so high. Considering this, Dorion hence likely sees Anderson as a good fit for his team and him being really interested in the Habs’ power forward would make a lot of sense in hindsight. Additionally, the Sens really want to get rid of White, as his actual salary is going up and he has failed to live up to the expectations that were set when he landed that huge contract.

In this trade, Dorion fills out what he considers to be a need and gets rid of a bad contract with term at the cost of trading down 19 spots. Considering the amount of high-end talent in this draft is limited, it’s not like the talent gap between 7 and 26 is astronomical either.

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