Thursday noon in Brossard, journalists wait in front of Josh Anderson’s locker. Ten minutes earlier, his head coach, Martin St-Louis, had just devoted a good part of his press briefing to explaining his management of the big winger who was out of fuel.
Before arriving, Anderson is intercepted by Chantal Machabée, who is doing her job as vice-president of communications, which is to brief the player on upcoming topics.
We don’t know what is said, but Anderson presents himself with a smile, rather than appearing dejected, as many attackers in his situation might be.
His words, on the other hand, are those of a lethargic winger.
Anderson is stuck at one goal, scored into an empty net. This means that his 62 other shots this season have been blocked by the opposing goalie, not to mention off-target shots, like the one in the third period on Wednesday, at point blank range, on a puck served to him by Sean Monahan.
“It’s hard to go back home,” he agreed. Before, I watched the highlights, all the matches. At the moment, I’m trying to stay away from that, to arrive with new energy on the ice. Tomorrow will be a new day. »
This time, health does not seem to be an issue. Five players were exempt from Thursday’s practice, but not Anderson, who shot profusely on net during the drill.
If Anderson is smiling, it is in particular because he feels a certain support. The fans gave him a warm welcome when St. Louis designated him during the interminable shootout session on Wednesday.
A welcome that he found “cool”. “It means a lot to me. I would have liked a different conclusion, but it was cool to hear that reaction. »
But when things go wrong… Anderson’s shot was blocked, then the Penguins’ 12th shooter, Jansen Harkins, immediately responded with a game-winning goal.
In 1990, the legendary Jeff Healey tackled the Beatles’ very ordinary While My Guitar Gently Weeps to make a masterpiece. An artist is sometimes said to “cover” a song; in this case, good Jeff “fixed” it.
All this to say that St. Louis finds itself a bit like Jeff Healey, with a mandate to repair Anderson.
It starts with a certain amount of confidence. Let’s not include here the decision to send him to the shootout: Anderson was the 12th CH player to start. Additionally, Anderson has never been a shootout specialist.
The Canadian head coach nevertheless continues to use him in the power play, even if number 17 only has one point in this situation this season. Anderson has been used for 48% of CH’s power play minutes so far; only Barrett Hayton, T.J. Oshie and Pierre-Luc Dubois play a greater share of their team’s minutes, among forwards caught at zero or one point on the power play.
“He was on the first wave, now he is on the second,” St-Louis said. But we have a lot of injuries. We also have guys who play shorthanded, so I try to distribute the time. But he had a [demotion]. »
At five against five, he maintains his permanence in the first three trios. Either way, St-Louis doesn’t seem like a coach in a hurry to send his veteran into the stands.
“The time to do it is if the player gives up on himself. If you give up, I’ll give up on you. » The signs St. Louis is seeing? “The attitude, the work habits, the commitment. He’s here, Josh. »
We could add, very realistically, that St. Louis is doomed to find a solution. At the end of this season, Anderson’s contract, which is worth $5.5 million per season, will have three years remaining. In the last 12 months, only three players with three or more years on contracts worth more than $5 million have been traded.
There are some caveats. Hayes is the only forward in the bunch, and the Flyers almost gave him away: they had to withhold some of his salary and got a 6th round pick.
Karlsson, although not the most reliable defensively, had still just won the Norris, and the Penguins had to drop salary everywhere to accommodate him. The kind of contortion that is easier for a star player to do.
Ekholm earned the Predators a first-round pick, but we are talking here about a second-duty defender, with a good physique, capable of scoring around thirty points per year. In short, a rare commodity.
A contract buyout? If Kent Hughes didn’t do it for the last year of the very one-dimensional Mike Hoffman’s contract, he won’t do it for Anderson, a player still capable of helping the team differently. “It’s not as if Josh and the others who are in difficulty don’t help the team,” St-Louis said. You have to find other ways, defensively or, for Josh, bring a physical presence. »
In short, Anderson and the Canadian are doomed to make it work. They now have around 50 games to clear the top 30.
