Anderson, Carrier reinforce worth to Canadiens in sturdy begin to season

PITTSBURGH — We left off with a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs that Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis stated he’d take, however not one he was notably glad with.

What St. Louis did like — other than goaltender Jakub Dobes, whose efficiency he deemed “excellent” — was the play of his depth gamers.

Two of them — Josh Anderson and Alex Carrier — got here up with a purpose and an help every, however that wasn’t all they did to bolster their worth to the Canadiens on opening night time.

Anderson additionally had three pictures on web, 4 hits and performed a key function in an ideal first outing for the revamped penalty kill. He “played to his DNA,” stated St. Louis, and the coach might as effectively have additionally been speaking about Carrier when he stated that.

There are a number of issues linking these two gamers, who couldn’t be extra completely different in some respects.

But whereas it’s true that Anderson is an enormous, bullying, power-forward and Carrier is an undersized defenceman usually on the receiving finish of some bullying, each are veteran depth gamers who persistently play successfully, play to their identification — with hearts embroidered on sleeves — and subsequently play important components within the Canadiens’ success. They additionally each occur to be enjoying out the tip of their contracts on a staff that has loads of incentive to maintain them, however maybe not as a lot as another groups may need to overpay them.

Anderson is in Year 7 of a deal that’s paid him $5.5 million per yr on common. He’ll be 33 and observing his final alternative to hit it huge in free company when it expires, and his probabilities of doing precisely that (along with his distinctive profile, in a market flush with money due to dramatic, year-over-year rises within the wage cap coming) are nearly as good as they’ll ever be.

Outside of being right-handed, Carrier’s profile — a dependable, versatile, two-way defenceman — isn’t almost as uncommon. But popping out of a three-year deal at simply 30, coming off a wage of simply $3.75 million per yr on common, he’ll be the perfect probabilities he’s ever needed to safe a affluent future for himself and his household.

Both Carrier and Anderson love Montreal, and so they each love enjoying for the Canadiens. For Carrier, a local of Quebec City, pulling on that sweater was “a childhood dream,” he stated upon touchdown in his residence province after the 2024 commerce with the Nashville Predators. Anderson, who grew up in Burlington, Ont., was raised as a die-hard Canadiens fan by his father, Gary, who’s from the West Island of Montreal.

The six-foot-three, 225-pound winger has been by the best highs and lowest lows with the staff since being traded from Columbus for Max Domi in the summertime of 2020. He was a key cog of their 2021 run to the Stanley Cup Final earlier than he was a misplaced, snake-bitten shooter on a punchless, rebuilding model of the staff.

Now Anderson is coming off two redeeming seasons — and a very good displaying within the 2026 run to the Eastern Conference Final — on the resurgent Canadiens, and he’s brimming with newfound appreciation for simply how particular his total expertise with the staff has been.

“I don’t have to tell you guys how much I love this city, how much I love this team,” Anderson stated upon being named an alternate captain again on Sept. 14. “I think that the culture that we’ve been building over the last four, five years with Marty and (president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton) and (general manager) Kent (Hughes) has obviously been something pretty special… This city has just been unbelievable. My daughter was born here, been playing close to home, and just the people you get to work with over the last seven years has been great…”

When requested if he needs extra, Anderson responded, “I’m a big believer in things will work out. I really do see myself being in Montreal, and I’m sure those conversations will start picking up soon.”

They’re going to be difficult conversations for Hughes to navigate.

He values Anderson, however he’s additionally managing a roster of core gamers aged 20-28. He has put the Canadiens on the precipice of opening a large rivalry window due to his savvy cap manipulation with that core. And as a result of he’s been so environment friendly to date, he has cash to play with.

But not a lot of it to compete with a market that may overpay an getting older winger with quite a lot of miles on his odometer.

Hughes might maybe do it for 2 years, over which Anderson has his finest likelihood to nonetheless be near as efficient as he was on opening night time in Toronto. He might most likely beat the market simply on {dollars} over that shorter time period — and we’d assume he’d wish to, contemplating how important gamers like Anderson are to playoff success.

Considering Anderson seems to be prioritizing playoff success, that he stated, “Being on a great team right now is something you want as a player,” and that he stated, “We’re just getting started here,” no less than leaves hope he’ll be receptive to that.

But till the participant’s signature finally ends up on a contract, there’s no manner of realizing how he’ll really feel about turning away from a market that might doubtlessly provide him 4 or 5 extra years of safety.

That may be as a lot time period as Carrier can receive on the market, but it surely’s virtually definitely greater than the Canadiens would give him to remain, particularly given their depth on the again finish. Even if Carrier’s handedness is an edge, it’s not that sharp of 1 with righties David Reinbacher and Bryce Pickford rising.

Still, there’s loads of time earlier than both of these prospects show as dependable at this stage as Carrier has. There’s additionally a complete season forward to see how Carrier fares.

Both he and Anderson have been among the many finest gamers on the ice in Toronto, however that was only one recreation.

Though in the event that they proceed to be as efficient — and there’s no cause to doubt they are going to be — and proceed to take care of good well being, their unsure future standing with the Canadiens will grow to be extra topical by the day.