Trade to come involving Josh Anderson? The renowned Darren Dreger has just announced a major turnaround

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MarcO
February 3, 2023 (7:27 PM)

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With the CH's current miserable season and the upcoming draft promising to be a great one, many are hoping that Kent Hughes will be able to get one or even two more first round picks in the upcoming draft. With the injuries to Sean Monahan and Joel Edmundson, his options to get more are diminished, unless both players are back by March 3rd.

With this in mind, many have suggested trading Josh Anderson, who seems to have good value on the market, in order to get good picks for the 2023 draft.

Those who wanted to take advantage of the current value of the forward to get a first round pick will have to reconsider. According to Darren Dreger's report, Anderson is not going anywhere unless Kent Hughes receives an offer that is impossible to refuse!

"Dreger on Insider Trading says that Josh Anderson is NOT in play unless a team makes an offer that Hughes simply cannot refuse. In the past, Treliving and the Flames have expressed interest, but the Tricolore would rather keep him, he has a good long-term contract."

Wow, quite a turnaround announced here by Dreger.

This season, Anderson has 19 points, 14 goals and 5 assists, in 49 games. Since joining the CH, he's averaging 0.44 points per game with his 75 points in 170 games. That's well below the expectations Marc Bergevin had when he acquired him in 2020.

From what we understand, however, it's his contract that is the major piece in this deal. The four seasons left on his deal following this one, at an average salary of $5.5M, would be why Hughes would want to be patient with him. It should also be remembered that Anderson is only 28 years old and can still play good hockey. He has shown that recently since being paired with Nick Suzuki...

According to what Pierre LeBrun reported in the last few days, Hughes refused an offer for Anderson that involved a first round pick. This information now goes hand in hand with Dreger's, which shows that the CH wants to keep its forward for a while.

Will Hughes receive an offer that is impossible to refuse? It's quite possible given that the fight to make the playoffs is very tight in the NHL, especially in the Eastern Association. A team that is already well established, such as the Devils for example, could also want to acquire Anderson to solidify themselves for the spring tournament.

A file to follow...