NHL Trade Grade: Blue Jackets acquire Max Domi from Canadiens for Josh Anderson
The Columbus Blue Jackets have been looking for a center and they've traded for one in Max Domi of the Montreal Canadiens.
Photo Credit: NHL.com
The Columbus Blue Jackets haven’t been shy about their desire to upgrade their offense this offseason. They also haven’t been shy about shopping RFA forward Josh Anderson. The Blue Jackets knocked out two birds with one stone by trading Anderson to the Montreal Canadiens for Max Domi and a 2020 third-round pick (78th overall).
Two RFAs are swapping teams. Let’s see how both teams did. Class in session, time to hand out the report cards.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets did quite well in this trade, imo. First of all, they got the better player. Even after a down year, Max Domi is a better player than Josh Anderson. It’s close, but Domi’s a center, and when it’s close, I’ll give the nod to the center.
Domi saw his points per game rate slip from 0.88 in 2018-19 to 0.62 in 2019-20. However, there’s more to a player’s value than production. Domi is an impressive driver of play on offense and whenever he’s on the ice, his team tends to generate more scoring chances.
Granted, Domi’s not that good of a driver of play defensively, but his play driving on offense offsets that. Domi’s also an above average goal scorer and is great at creating chances for his teammates. He’s a clear upgrade at center for the Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets will have to sign him to a new contract, as he’ll be a restricted free agent in a few days. But this is a far better use of the Blue Jackets cap space than re-signing Anderson.
GRADE: B. Blue Jackets solve a huge roster need. This grade might get adjusted depending on the contract, but as long as it’s not outrageous, I think the Blue Jackets win this trade.
Montreal Canadiens
On one hand, the Canadiens got pretty decent value for Domi. Anderson was injured for most of last season, but he proved during the 2018-19 season that he can be very productive. Anderson’s a bit more of a two-way player than Domi, though he doesn’t drive play on offense like he does.
The big question mark about Anderson, obviously, is his health. If he’s healthy, I think Anderson has what it takes to be an effective top-nine forward. But at this point, Anderson’s health is not a certainty.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Anderson bounces back. But the Canadiens just gave up a proven commodity for one that isn’t quite as proven and they threw in a draft pick to do it. So it’s hard to see this trade in a positive light for Montreal at the time being.
Now, it’s worth noting Domi might have been the fourth-line center in Montreal next year. But still, this is not good asset management.
GRADE: C+. Domi for Anderson straight up would have been a fine trade. The Habs are banking heavily on Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi to be as good as they believe they can be. I guess this also means they’re optimistic about re-signing Phillip Danault.