A couple of months after Montreal Canadiens alternate captain Brendan Gallagher became a new dad, his linemate Josh Anderson and his wife Paola welcomed their first child. In an Instagram post on Thursday night, Mrs. Anderson introduced her new bundle of joy to the world.

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The new mom didn’t reveal her date of birth, but some of her friends in the comments stole the punch on the name: The baby girl is named Stella. Emma Fortin, Gallagher’s wife, was one of the first to comment, “Everly’s hockey bestie.”

While the press asked Anderson on locker clear-out day if he would be heading to the World Championship, the winger replied he was too banged up for that. Something tells me he wouldn’t have gone in any case if it meant missing his daughter’s birth.

Anderson, like Gallagher, is under contract for three more seasons with the Canadiens. However, unlike Gallagher, Anderson doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract. The power forward contract has a $5.5 M cap hit, which could hinder any potential trade.

While the Canadiens are entering a new part of their rebuild after qualifying for the playoffs this season, there is still room for a player like Anderson. While his 2023-24 campaign was highly frustrating, he embraced the new role coach Martin St-Louis cast him in this year and became the poster child of effective forechecking.

In 81 games, he scored 27 points and 90 penalty minutes while landing 176 hits, the third-highest total on the team behind Juraj Slafkovsky (194) and Arber Xhekaj (180). He finished last season with a minus-18 rating, which improved to just minus-two this year.

The combination he formed with Gallagher and center Christian Dvorak was highly effective. It will be interesting to see who gets to play alongside the two new dads if Dvorak is not signed to a new contract, which appears likely right now.

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