Shane Doan becomes an assistant to Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving as the club shores up its deep ties to Arizona. Will that be enough to extend Auston Matthews? Joey Anderson is sticking around with the Chicago Blackhawks. The team announced on Thursday that they signed the 25-year-old forward to a one-year, two-way deal. Anderson will earn $800,000 at the NHL level and $475,000 at the AHL level. The forward had a pair of goals and an assist in 14 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In February, Anderson was traded to the Blackhawks in Chicago as part of the deal that saw defenseman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty come to Toronto. With the Blackhawks in rebuilding mode, Anderson immediately saw more ice time at the NHL level and played in 24 games with Chicago last season while scoring four goals and adding two assists. Chicago won the 2023 NHL Draft lottery and the team is expected to select phenom forward Connor Bedard with the first selection. It's not known how quickly this will speed up Chicago's rebuilding efforts, but the prospect of being on the same team as a player as skilled as Bedard is as good a sell as any to stick around for Anderson. The Maple Leafs were always high on Anderson. Acquired in 2020 in exchange for Andreas Johnsson, Anderson bounced around between the big club and the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. He was always particularly complimentary of how the franchise handled the lockdowns during the pandemic years. The Maple Leafs called up Anderson on a trip to Los Angeles in the fall of 2021 and even though they planned to send him down once they activated Kyle Clifford, they made sure he could see his brother Mikey, who plays for the Los Angeles Kings. "They were always good about things like that," Anderson told The Hockey News last season. Related Report: Maple Leafs Minority Owner Larry Tanenbaum Close to Selling Portion of Stake in Parent MLSE in $8 Billion Valuation [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/news/report-maple-leafs-minority-owner-larry-tanenbaum-close-to-selling-portion-of-stake-in-parent-mlse-in-8-billion-valuation] Former Maple Leafs Mogilny and Joseph Snubbed Again as 2023 Hockey Hall of Fame Nominees Unveiled [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/news/former-maple-leafs-mogilny-and-joseph-snubbed-again-as-2023-hockey-hall-of-fame-nominees-unveiled] Report: NHL Salary Cap Believed to be Set at $83.5 Million for 2023-24, What it Means for the Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/news/report-nhl-salary-cap-believed-to-be-set-at-83-5-million-for-2023-24-what-it-means-for-the-maple-leafs]
