Fantasy Focus: Josh Anderson
Coming off a tough season, the Habs needed Josh Anderson to take on a different role in 2024-25, one he adapted to well. Will a second year in a now more familiar role boost his offensive numbers?
2024-25
In the past, the Habs often used Anderson in an offensive role, at times in the top six as a power forward complement to their more skilled forwards. And no matter how many times they tried it, it didn’t work for any extended period of time.
So, with Martin St. Louis recognizing this heading into training camp, he asked Anderson to play more of a defensive role. That entailed killing penalties (a role he had at times with Columbus in the past but rarely with the Canadiens) while being on a veteran line at five-on-five with an intended focus on puck possession. He fared well with the former while the latter was a little more hit-or-miss.
Anderson actually got off to a decent start offensively, averaging half a point per game over the first quarter of the season. That’s still not great value for a $5.5 million cap hit but it was an improvement compared to his 2023-24 production. Unfortunately, it wasn’t sustainable as he managed just 10 points combined over the next two quarters of the campaign before rebounding slightly down the stretch with seven points in 19 games. Fortunately, with the penalty killing doing well and his line showing some late-season effectiveness at even strength, the limited production largely went unnoticed as he was doing other things to help the team.
In the playoffs, Anderson wasn’t able to do much offensively as was the case for a lot of the Habs but his physicality stood out in a big way. He picked up 26 hits in the five-game series against Washington with the next-highest total being 16.
Regular Season Stats: 81 GP, 15-12-27, -2, 90 PIMS, 0 PPG, 1 GWG, 109 shots, 14:19 ATOI
Playoff Stats: 5 GP, 0-1-1, -2, 20 PIMS, 0 PPG, 0 GWG, 11 shots, 13:53 ATOI
5-Year Averages
(2020-21’s numbers have been extrapolated to an 82-game season.)
GP: 75
Goals: 18
Assists: 11
Points: 29
+/-: -14
PIMS: 71
PPG: 1
GWG: 3
Shots: 150
2025-26 Role
There could be a bit more fluidity in Anderson’s role this season compared to his usage from a year ago. For starters, his centre from last season, Christian Dvorak, is now with the Flyers, meaning that their second-most-used trio from a year ago has been broken up. It’s possible that Jake Evans simply moves onto that line with an eye on playing the same way but that would be three right-hand shots on the same unit, something they have tried to avoid.
So, if the new checking line (of sorts) isn’t on the table, Anderson is one of those players who could bounce around. With a prospective opening in the top six, he could go back to being in a rotation on the second line, especially if there’s a desire to have some size on there with Zach Bolduc and Patrik Laine on different trios. They could try to put Alex Newhook in Dvorak’s spot with Anderson and Gallagher on the wings, a line that I can’t see working out too well based on their strengths and weaknesses but it would allow Evans to stay in the role he had a lot of success in last season. Alternatively, Anderson could find himself on either wing on the fourth line with an eye on greater emphasizing his physicality. There are some options here.
When it comes to special teams, Anderson basically fell out of the power play rotation altogether last season, not even getting opportunities when injuries arose. With a bit more offensive depth now to start the season, that’s probably not going to change beyond getting the final few seconds of a power play. He might average more ice time with the man advantage than last year but that’s a low bar to clear after averaging just four seconds per game of power play time last season. Even if he beats that, it’s not changing much.
On the penalty kill, with Joel Armia now in Los Angeles, Anderson comes in as the top winger option shorthanded which could result in an uptick on the 1:44 per night he had last season. Evans would seemingly move up to take Dvorak’s spot on that duo but that would leave two righties together. That said, with Newhook being the lone lefty centre (and he doesn’t kill penalties), that might just be a problem they have to deal with.
Projected Stats
In his four full seasons with Montreal (excluding the COVID-shortened year in 2020-21), Anderson hasn’t put up more than 32 points in a season and that was with more offensive usage than he had last season. Given that his offensive usage is likely to be as limited as it was last season, it’s hard to forecast him suddenly setting new personal bests with the Canadiens.
Honestly, it wouldn’t shock me if his production ticks down ever so slightly. While he managed 15 goals last season, that was fuelled by a shooting percentage of nearly 14% which is well above his career average. That also coincided with a drop in shot attempts of 67 compared to 2023-24 despite playing in more games. This feels like one of those situations where a small drop wouldn’t be surprising.
So, with middling offensive production and a bottom-six role, why does Anderson have a column in this series? It’s the physical part of his game that gets him here. His hit-per-game rate has stayed relatively steady over the past few years, checking in around two per game on average. He also typically is one of Montreal’s more penalized players. In deeper leagues with those categories (particularly head-to-head), he has a reasonable floor that could make him worth a back-of-the-roster spot or a late-week add to be a boost in those categories. But beyond that, Anderson probably isn’t someone who needs to be carried in most formats.
GP: 78
Goals: 12
Assists: 14
Points: 26
+/-: -8
PIMS: 81
PPG: 0
GWG: 1
Shots: 115