To put it bluntly, Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson is overpaid and underperforming.
Once a pivotal piece of the Canadiens’ top six, Anderson became a fan favourite with his heroics in the 2021 playoffs and physical style of play. Unfortunately, those days appear to be long gone.
With eight goals and 10 assists through 71 games this season and just 32 points last year, it’s hard to remember the last time the 30-year-old lived up to his contract, which sees him earning an average annual salary of $5.5 million for the next three years.
As one of the highest-paid players on the roster, the time may soon come when the team is forced to make a tough decision regarding Anderson’s future. And if they can’t find a team willing to trade for him, the Habs may consider buying out the 30-year-old’s contract altogether.
If that were to be the case, here’s how the math would break down.
According to CapFriendly, if Montreal were to buy out Anderson’s contract in the coming offseason, it would cost them $1,722,222 for the next six years — a total of $10,333,333.
They would get some major relief money next season, with about $5.2 million off the cap. That would be followed by $3.27 million in 2025-26 and $1.7 million in savings the year after that.
However, even though Anderson’s contract concludes after the 2026-27 campaign, the buyout would cost the team $1.7 million annually in dead cap money for three more seasons, beginning in 2027-28.
That’s not great when you consider the timeframe for when the Habs are expected to be a competitive team coming out of a rebuild.
CapFriendly
With that said, if the Canadiens decided to wait another year before making the decision, it may prove to be more affordable in the long run.
Montreal would shave off about $3.5 million and $2 million respectively for the last two years of Anderson’s deal, but would still have to pay $1.4 million in dead cap for two seasons after that.
CapFriendly
While it’s not terribly expensive, especially with the cap expected to rise to about $87.6 million for the 2024-25 season, the Canadiens would probably much rather see the power forward turn his game around before doing something drastic.
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