Josh Anderson is a negative asset, he makes Brock Boeser’s contract like an absolute steal. That’s not enough to dump Cal Petersen to Buffalo, and Petersen has a rocky history with the Sabres organization anyway. Also Oloffson must be worth more than that.

every insider under the sun is saying that there is significant interest around the league of josh Anderson, and that Kent Hughes has already declined some trade offers. It would take more than just Casey mittelstadt to acquire him

Uh-oh. Watch out for the Josh Anderson crowd coming with “it starts at Quinn plus 1st”

Habs fans think he is Matthew Tkachuk.

No we don’t, but it’s false to say that he is a negative asset.

There is no winning a Josh Anderson trade on here. Some people think that he has negative value while others think he is worth a lot. I bet you the 32 GM's have a similar view. Very polarizing player

Do you have any links to these insiders ?? Habs fans make this claim all the time on this site but never provide any supporting links/ articles/ etc.

why do you want josh anderson

OP is offering up a 24 year old center scoring at a 45 point pace + a solid goalie prospect for Anderson and a middling LW prospect, how is that treating him like a negative asset?

-This is an overpay IMO. Mittelstadt might not have lived up to his draft pedigree but he's settled in as a solid middle-6 C, and Portillo still has a ton of upside as a goalie prospect. As a strong advocate for uniting all hockey brothers, I obviously understand why you included Luke Tuch, but he's more of a lottery ticket than a slam dunk at this point. And I think you're doing Montreal a favor by taking Anderson's 4x$5.5M off their books - whatever you think of him as a player, he's old enough that he won't be a major part of their next contending team, so he's more valuable to them off the books than on them.

-I don't think LA goes this hard trying to dump Petersen. Jonathan Quick is UFA at the end of the season, and I'd be surprised to see him coming back for an age-37 season. Pheonix Copley is also UFA, for what that's worth; I could see LA letting Petersen get his head straight this year in a no-pressure AHL stint and having him come back as a serviceable goalie. I don't see them needing to unload those picks and Sean Walker for a lesser D like Jacob Bryson and a similarly struggling goalie like Comrie. Andersson is an interesting guy to target, though - there might be something left to unlock there, and I think he's worth taking a swing at in a different type of deal.

-Not sure why you want to move Olofsson but this is okay value, a recent 2nd round RHD and another future pick. I think someone would jump at this, but I would personally like him more on my 3rd line than Josh Anderson.

Buffalo doesn't want Petersen given their history and Los Angeles doesn't have to pay to get rid of him. Walker and two seconds for an undersized LhD and third-rate backup is a terrible idea for the Kings.

In general, trades where one side contributes only expendable if not downright insignificant assets don't work unless they're pure cap dumps for the other team. The only part of this that makes sense is Andersson for Bryson.

Elliot Friedman has talked about it multiple times on his 32 thoughts podcast, Pierre Lebrun wrote about it in the Athletic, Frank Serivalle has wrote about it for TSN, Darren Dreger has brought it up in TSN panels, Sam Constantine has wrote about it on his website.

Can't really link anything because I haven't saved any of them and don't want to fish around to find them. Point is, it's been pretty openly talked about among media insiders and confirmed by MTLs GM.

To my knowledge there has never been an article about Josh Anderson being a negative asset and nobody is sharing relevant sources to support that either.

Is it so hard to believe that multiple GMs would be interested in a player with his combination of size and speed? We know those are the most (over?)valued traits even in the absence of strong numbers. We see it every year.

If Anderson was a rental, he might have some of the value Montreal fans believe he has, but he's not. He's got another 4 years left on an abysmal contract with trade protection.

I find it hard to imagine that there are many GM's willing to tie their jobs to that anchor without sending an almost equivalent amount of long term, horrid cap back to balance it out.

Cap is king in the NHL, so I'd like to see some of these deals these supposed "insiders" have heard of being offered.

Weird because I listen to every one of Elliot's pods and never once heard him mention trade interest in Anderson.
I also have seen Josh Anderson on multiple worst contracts lists on the athletic and bleacher report.
And miraculously I actually have LINKS to show these. Unlike the claims habs fans constantly make.

https://thehockeywriters.com/every-nhl-teams-worst-contract/

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10051974-the-worst-contract-on-every-nhl-team

https://theathletic.com/3435602/2022/07/26/nhl-worst-contracts-2022/

I'll agree that so called insiders have made the claim that Hughes has said other teams have inquired about Anderson. But that certainly doesn't mean any team has offered the Habs anything of valuesmaybe be they will take Anderson and his contract off the Habs for 50% retention.
But these insiders are often full of BS. They love making up stories, trying to out do one another, trying to seem relevant, and just want following on their various outlets so they can get more $$$ for themselves. I'm surprised (disappointed) why so many fans believe what reporters have to say.
I'm sure GMs talk all the time about players availability and trades. But its certainly doesn't mean their is any competition by NHL teams for Anderson's services.

At $5.5 million, I think a lot of teams would view him as a negative asset. Habs should be retaining a good chunk of his salary if they want assets back for him.

Your statement makes zero sense, Casey is 4 years younger and cost controlled, he also is on pace to out produce Anderson by 15-20 points. Name me a team that wants a 35 point player for 5.5M cap. At best you will get a mid level prospect or a 3 round pick and even then you may still have to retain some salary, He is on pace for 8 goals, thats a HUGE negative asset. Using the general formula a 5.5M player should score between 50-60 points, dudes not even in the ballpark!

I know, i was responding to NHLfan10506 .. should have quote him my mistake

Darren Dreger yesterday morning :

If Josh Anderson is available, Kent Hughes will receive at least 10-15 calls. General Managers will line up for his services.

So even if I agree that 5,5M is probably 1,5m too much. A lot of teams will still be interest fpr what he brings to the table