NHL Rumors: Josh Anderson on the move, and Ville Husso to the open market?
Anthony Scultore
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The NHL Rumors Mill is slowly picking up with the Montreal Canadiens expected to be one the busiest teams in the offseason.
They’ve already made a trade involving the contract of Shea Weber to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Evgeni Dadonov. It was a cost cutting move for Vegas to get Dadonov’s $5M off the books. Weber is not going to play this season, which allows the Knights to place him on LTIR.
Canadiens GM addressed the media about the trade on Thursday and spoke about the offseason.
NHL Rumors: Josh Anderson
The Habs are in the midst of a rebuild and will be looking to move some veterans in exchange for picks and prospects. Jeff Petry remains at the top of that list, but moving a 34 year-old defenseman that has 3-years left on a deal with a $6.25M cap hit will be a stiff challenge.
According to several insiders, forward Josh Anderson has been garnering a lot of interest.
Anderson, 28, has 5-years remaining at $5.5M with an 8 team no-trade list. That’s a reasonable contract for a big power forward that had 19 goals and 32 points in 69 games for a really bad Habs team last season. His career high of 27 goals came in 2018-19 as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Regarding the speculation, Hughes said he didn’t intend to trade Anderson but also would listen to offers.
NHL Rumors: Ville Husso
The St. Louis Blues and Ville Husso look like they are set to part ways.
According to David Pagnotta, Husso is looking for a big increase from the $750K he’s earned the last two seasons.
“He proved this season that he can handle the No.1 duties. At the same time, he knows that he’s going to price himself out of (St. Louis),” Pagnotta said. “You’re probably at looking at $3 to $4 million (per season) for him on a three-to-four-year contract.”
The Fourth Period
Husso, 27, has a solid season for the Blues going 25-7-6, with a .919 SV% and a 2.56 GAA. For his career, he’s 34-13-7 and has a 2.74 GAA with a .912 SV%.
Per TFP, possible destinations include the Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
