Montreal Canadiens power forward Josh Anderson is primed for a bounce back season.

When GM Marc Bergevin had the opportunity to trade an underachieving Max Domi and a third-round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets before the start of the 2020-21 season for Josh Anderson, he jumped at the opportunity. For years, the Canadiens had been too small and without big bodies to crash the net. He believed that he was finally getting the power forward of his dreams and gave him a contract worthy of that status, a seven-year pact worth $38.5 M. 

Last Season

To say that Anderson had the worse season of his career in 2023-24 would be an understatement. The forward struggled to find any rhythm and was unable to find the back of the net for what must have felt like a lifetime to him; 25 games. 

He finally found twine in a December 4th game against the Seattle Kraken, it was through an empty-netter but nobody cared what  kind of goal it was, it was a goal at long-last. It didn't open the floodgates so to speak, but it did allow the power forward to open his account on the way to finding his scoring touch back.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Q490XMDjo[/embed]

At the end of the season, he had played all but four of the Canadiens' game and had scored nine goals and 11 assists, for a point total of just 20, his least productive season ever. 

The Aftermath

No one crucified Anderson after his nightmarish season, there was no need to. He knew better than anyone that he had fallen short of expectations. Not only those the Habs brass had in him, but also those he had set for himself. 

The positive takeaway from that horrible season is that at no time, coach Martin St-Louis did anything like demoting him to the fourth line or making him a healthy scratch. The four games he sat out were due to a lower-body injury. In other words, the coach did not lose confidence in his player. 

After a trying season, the power forward had what looks like a great Summer and even tied the knot with fiancée Paola Finizio in an outdoor wedding in Italy. Sounds like the perfect way to relax, have a good time and charge your inner batteries. 

What to Expect

It would be hard for Anderson to have a worse season than he did last year and I'm confident that he will enjoy a bounce back year. To what extent however? That's harder to assess. Most pundits seem to agree that the top-six to start the season will include the usual suspects: Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. Then there should be (touch wood) healthy Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook (he was limited to just 55 games in his first season with the Sainte-Flanelle and freshly acquired Patrik Laine. 

There are two ways for Anderson to look at this, he can either be annoyed at not having a shot at the top-six or he can tell himself that playing on a lower line comes with less pressure. That might just be what he needs to hit the ground running. Besides, he won't be playing with AHLers on the third line either right now, Brendan Gallagher and Christian Dvorak appear to be his most likely linemates.

There's no doubt in my mind that Anderson will deliver a more substantial offensive input, if he does manage to stay healthy all season long, he'll likely manage to put around 35 points on the boards. While this is not an enormous number, it would still be his highest point production in Montreal as his two best seasons in town yielded 32 points. 

Four years into his seven-year contract, it appears fair to say he won't become the bona fide power forward Bergevin thought he had the potential to be. The 47 points he contributed in his career year in Columbus seem, at least for now, to be a summit he won't be able to conquer again. 

Related

Did the Canadiens Win the Domi/Anderson Trade?
Canadiens: What to Expect From Nick Suzuki
Canadiens: What to Expect From Cayden Primeau

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