PITTSBURGH — We left off with a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs that Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said he’d take, but not one he was particularly satisfied with.
What St. Louis did like — aside from goaltender Jakub Dobes, whose performance he deemed “excellent” — was the play of his depth players.
Two of them — Josh Anderson and Alex Carrier — came up with a goal and an assist each, but that wasn’t all they did to reinforce their value to the Canadiens on opening night.
Anderson also had three shots on net, four hits and played a key role in a perfect first outing for the revamped penalty kill. He “played to his DNA,” said St. Louis, and the coach may as well have also been talking about Carrier when he said that.
There are several things linking these two players, who couldn’t be more different in some respects.
But while it’s true that Anderson is a big, bullying, power-forward and Carrier is an undersized defenceman often on the receiving end of some bullying, both are veteran depth players who consistently play effectively, play to their identity — with hearts embroidered on sleeves — and therefore play essential parts in the Canadiens’ success. They also both happen to be playing out the end of their contracts on a team that has plenty of incentive to keep them, but perhaps not as much as some other teams might have to overpay them.
Anderson is in Year 7 of a deal that’s paid him $5.5 million per year on average. He’ll be 33 and staring at his last opportunity to hit it big in free agency when it expires, and his chances of doing exactly that (with his unique profile, in a marketplace flush with cash thanks to dramatic, year-over-year rises in the salary cap coming) are as good as they’ll ever be.
Outside of being right-handed, Carrier’s profile — a reliable, versatile, two-way defenceman — isn’t nearly as rare. But coming out of a three-year deal at just 30, coming off a salary of just $3.75 million per year on average, he’ll be looking at the best chances he’s ever had to secure a prosperous future for himself and his family.
Both Carrier and Anderson love Montreal, and they both love playing for the Canadiens. For Carrier, a native of Quebec City, pulling on that sweater was “a childhood dream,” he said upon landing in his home province after the 2024 trade 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 through the highest highs and lowest lows with the team since being traded from Columbus for Max Domi in the summer of 2020. He was a key cog in their 2021 run to the Stanley Cup Final before he was a lost, snake-bitten shooter on a punchless, rebuilding version of the team.
Now Anderson is coming off two redeeming seasons — and an excellent showing in the 2026 run to the Eastern Conference Final — on the resurgent Canadiens, and he’s brimming with newfound appreciation for just how special his entire experience with the team has been.
“I don’t have to tell you guys how much I love this city, how much I love this team,” Anderson said upon being named an alternate captain back 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 asked if he wants more, 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 challenging conversations for Hughes to navigate.
He values Anderson, but he’s also managing a roster of core players aged 20-28. He has put the Canadiens on the precipice of opening a wide contention window thanks to his savvy cap manipulation with that core. And because he’s been so efficient so far, he has money to play with.
But not so much of it to compete with a market that would overpay an aging winger with a lot of miles on his odometer.
32 Thoughts: The Podcast
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.
Hughes could perhaps do it for two years, over which Anderson has his best chance to still be close to as effective as he was on opening night in Toronto. He could probably beat the market just on dollars over that shorter term — and we’d think he’d want to, considering how essential players like Anderson are to playoff success.
Considering Anderson appears to be prioritizing playoff success, that he said, “Being on a great team right now is something you want as a player,” and that he said, “We’re just getting started here,” at least leaves hope he’ll be receptive to that.
But until the player’s signature ends up on a contract, there’s no way of knowing how he’ll feel about turning away from a market that could potentially offer him four or five more years of security.
That might be as much term as Carrier can obtain out there, but it’s almost certainly more than the Canadiens would give him to stay, especially given their depth on the back end. Even if Carrier’s handedness is an edge, it’s not that sharp of one with righties David Reinbacher and Bryce Pickford emerging.
Still, there’s plenty of time before either of those prospects prove as reliable at this level as Carrier has. There’s also an entire season ahead to see how Carrier fares.
Both he and Anderson were among the best players on the ice in Toronto, but that was just one game.
Though if they continue to be as effective — and there’s no reason to doubt they will be — and continue to maintain good health, their uncertain future status with the Canadiens will become more topical by the day.