Red Wings Trade Pitch Lands 12-Year Veteran Josh Anderson For 2-Player Package
· Yahoo Sports
A new trade pitch aimed at the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens would send Justin Faulk and Michael Rasmussen north of the border in a deal for Josh Anderson and three draft picks.
The scenario was constructed using the trade-creation tools provided by PuckGM, but the underlying numbers, with Detroit sitting on nearly $19.5 million in cap space against Montreal’s $2.8 million, make it worth consideration.
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Red Wings, Canadiens Swap Faulk for Anderson
GettyJustin Faulk of the Detroit Red Wings in action.Faulk, a right-shot defenseman Carolina drafted 37th overall in 2010, is a 34-year-old rental Detroit acquired from St. Louis at the deadline for Justin Holl, prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov and two picks. He carries a $6.5 million cap hit in the final season of a seven-year, $45.5 million contract signed in 2019. Faulk hits unrestricted free agency next July.
Rasmussen, the 6-foot-6 center Detroit took ninth overall in 2017, signed a four-year extension running through 2027-28 back in February 2024. His production slipped to 6-8-14 in 64 games last season, down from a career-best 13-20-33 in 2023-24, according to his stats compiled by NHL.com.
Anderson, the physical winger Montreal signed to a seven-year, $38.5 million extension in 2020, two days after landing him in a trade with Columbus, comes with a $5.5 million cap hit that expires after this season. He scored 14 goals in 72 games last season and added five more during Montreal’s run to the 2026 Eastern Conference Final, then was named an alternate captain over the summer.
Detroit would retain $3.3 million of Faulk’s hit and $950,000 of Rasmussen’s, meaning Montreal absorbs roughly $3.2 million and $2.25 million, respectively, while sending Anderson’s full $5.5 million to Detroit, a net-zero move on the cap ledger for both sides, according to the swap posted on PuckGM.
Detroit still projects to have roughly $19.5 million in cap space this season. Montreal’s cap space is down to just $2.8 million.
Who Wins the Proposed Detroit-Montreal Trade?
GettyMichael Rasmussen of the Detroit Red Wings skates.Montreal already carries a deep, expensive blue line, Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson are all signed long-term, with prospect David Reinbacher behind them, so Faulk’s appeal is a short-term veteran on the right side and power play, not a long-term fit, according to a PuckPedia breakdown of the Canadiens’ offseason. Rasmussen gives Montreal a big body for bottom-six and penalty-kill minutes over two discounted seasons.
What Montreal gives up is Anderson’s speed, size and playoff pedigree. He scored in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final and again last spring. The Canadiens also part with two second-round picks in a year that leaves little cap margin.
Detroit’s actual need is scoring depth up front, not another right-shot defenseman in his mid-30s, and Anderson slots into the bottom six the way Faulk or Rasmussen do now, a point The Athletichas raised about Detroit’s forward group.
Moving Faulk, acquired only six months earlier, and a declining Rasmussen for two second-round picks looks like a classic sell-the-rental move, with the extra term attached as a bonus, according to a PuckPediaanalysis on the Red Wings’ cap situation.
Detroit gets the better of this trade pitch, should it ever come to reality. Two second-round picks in consecutive drafts are worth more than one more year of a 34-year-old rental and two extra years of a 27-year-old center whose offense keeps sliding. Montreal picks up useful, discounted pieces and size down the middle, but surrendering two seconds to take on aging money while already tight against the cap and deep on defense is the steeper price. Neither team gets transformed here.
Detroit simply ends up with more future assets for players it could replace in-house or in free agency.
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