{"id":693199,"date":"2026-05-25T19:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T19:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/693199\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T19:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T19:10:09","slug":"josh-anderson-soaking-up-montreal-canadiens-playoff-ride-after-enduring-rebuild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/693199\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Anderson soaking up Montreal Canadiens’ playoff ride after enduring rebuild"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONTREAL \u2014 Josh Anderson<\/a> could see the plan coming into focus.<\/p>\n

The Montreal Canadiens<\/a> went through a massive rebuild on the heels of an improbable march to the Stanley Cup final in 2021.<\/p>\n

An exodus of veteran talent and leadership soon followed, with the likes of Carey Price and Shea Weber heading out the door.<\/p>\n

Anderson and a few other core roster members were left behind to help guide a young group through the wilderness of a teardown and rebuild.<\/p>\n

The bruising winger is still around to enjoy the fruits of that labour. Anderson sat second on the Canadiens with five goals this post-season heading into Monday\u2019s Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an emotional roller-coaster, honestly,\u201d said the 32-year-old. \u201cBut we\u2019re having a ton of fun together playing this late into the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis came on board in February 2022 with the Original Six franchise on the way to bottoming out in the NHL\u2019s overall standings.<\/p>\n

The Hall of Fame forward said \u201crebuild\u201d isn\u2019t an ideal word for veteran players aware the clock is ticking down on their careers, but a group that included Anderson, fellow winger Brendan Gallagher<\/a> and defenceman Mike Matheson<\/a> have been rewarded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey bought into, \u2018We\u2019re going to turn this around,\u2019\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cI\u2019m so happy that we were able to execute what we thought we could, so that they can reap the benefit of being patient with us and being good mentors (and) leaders for the group. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like they could see the vision and they wanted to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovsky, whose No. 1 overall selection at the 2022 draft kick-started the push back up the ledger, said the six-foot-three, 226-pound Anderson has been vital to his development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sit next to him in a locker room,\u201d said the 22-year-old with a near identical frame. \u201cTaught me a lot just talking to him \u2014 the way he sees the game, the way he\u2019s trying to set himself up to have a good shift, the way he uses his body.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe type of guy you want to have in your locker room when you\u2019re young and you have a big body like me. He\u2019s been great and hopefully we have a lot more time together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson was acquired via trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> in October 2020 before signing a six-year, US$38.5-million dollar contract.<\/p>\n

His offensive production has never dazzled with a pair of 32-point seasons the high bar in Montreal, but his value was key in holding things together during the transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a positive guy,\u201d said 25-year-old sniper Cole Caufield<\/a>, whose team advanced to the conference final with seven-game victories over the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> and Buffalo Sabres<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s always trying to find good things to look to. He\u2019s the guy that always kept it light throughout those times. He\u2019s not really the oldest guy. He still feels like he\u2019s one of us. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s gone with us throughout this whole process. He\u2019s been a huge part of that and a big reason why we\u2019re here today.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while Anderson has contributed offensively on an effective third line with Phillip Danault<\/a> and Alexandre Texier<\/a> this spring, the Burlington, Ont., product has also continued on the physical side, leading the forward group with 42 hits entering Monday\u2019s game against the Hurricanes at the Bell Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe playoffs are built for his game \u2014 the intensity, the physicality,\u201d said defenceman Noah Dobson<\/a>, in his first season with the Canadiens. \u201cHe\u2019s playing that power forward game. He\u2019s hard to handle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montreal forward Alex Newhook<\/a> saw Anderson\u2019s worth on the ice and in the locker room when he also arrived via trade in June 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cA leader since I\u2019ve been here,\u201d said Newhook, who hoisted the Cup with the Colorado Avalanche<\/a> in 2022. \u201cHe\u2019s showing how effective he can be in meaningful games (at a) meaningful time of the year. It\u2019s fun to watch when he\u2019s hunting guys on the forecheck and bringing that pace. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s a fun guy to play against.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeads with his energy. He takes on the big moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

After navigating the dark days, Anderson is enjoying the ride \u2014 and hungry for more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just got to keep going,\u201d he said. \u201cSpend more time together and win more hockey games.\u201d<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2026.<\/p>\n

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTREAL \u2014 Josh Anderson could see the plan coming into focus. The Montreal Canadiens went through a massive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338,82],"class_list":["post-693199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}