The Montreal Canadiens sit 13th in the Eastern Conference and are seemingly out of the running for a playoff spot unless they go on a massive run. That said, it is expected that the team looks to continue to sell in the coming weeks leading up to the trade deadline. Sean Monahan has already been moved and opened a spot on the roster for someone to get called up, but I don’t believe the Canadiens are done there.
While there is open space up front at forward with Monahan getting moved and other players injured, the Canadiens are continuing to dip into their system and bring up players to test them out. A few of the more recent names have included Joel Armia (getting called back up), Joshua Roy, and Brandon Gignac.
Armia is an NHL player, and many have been excited about Roy’s rise and opportunity in the NHL, but Gignac is less known. Typically, the most dominant and deserving players who have shown they are capable of handling better competition get the call first, and that is what happened with the Canadiens and Laval Rocket. But, as more players are expected to move, or maybe Roy or Gignac don’t stick around the rest of the season in the NHL, we will look at who the next in line should be, that being Lias Andersson.
Andersson Has the Pedigree
As far as younger players in the Canadiens’ system who can get called up to play for Montreal this season, Andersson has the highest draft pedigree and could still have the highest ceiling, given the right opportunity. Sometimes, those chances don’t come early enough or with the right team, but with space and opportunity in Montreal this season, it may just be the right time and team.
Unlike many players the Canadiens have in their system that aren’t in the NHL, Andersson is a former high pick in the draft. He was taken seventh overall in 2017, but he is 25 years old now. While some would see this as a negative, I look at it as a player with upside, having 110 games of NHL experience that shouldn’t be given up on just yet. At 25 years old, a great number of players aren’t even in their prime yet, and it just takes one chance, one linemate, or a couple of games for the team they’re on to see something. He was a no-risk addition to the organization anyway.
The Canadiens have spots at centre and the wing, but if Roy is sticking around in the NHL on the wing, that means Andersson could find himself on the fourth line in place of Gignac eventually if he doesn’t produce or the NHL is too much for him right now (from “After almost five years, Canadiens’ Brandon Gignac is back in the NHL”, Montreal Gazette, Feb. 5, 2024). A few interesting things to note for Andersson is that even though the production hasn’t been up to par with what has been expected of him in the NHL, he will play physically and has more career takeaways than giveaways. He’s had much more time playing shorthanded than on the power play in the NHL as well and has the same number of points on each special teams in his career (just one). This means he has been trusted in his own end to play a two-way game, but he hasn’t yet been given a good opportunity to produce offensively.
Related: Canadiens Projections for the 2026 Winter Olympics
Andersson has averaged under 11 minutes per game in his career and really hasn’t been put in the right situation to succeed. Season after season in the American Hockey League (AHL), he has put up respectable numbers, and it has repeatedly been good enough to give him a look in the NHL. But he has played just one NHL game over the past season and a half, regardless. In the AHL this season, he has 13 goals and 23 points in 28 games, and last season with the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings’ affiliate, Andersson was just as good. He put up 31 goals and 59 points in 67 games and got rewarded with one game, playing 8:37.
Andersson hasn’t been given a real look in the NHL in two years despite showing that he has the ability to make a difference if given the chance. The space and opportunity are there for the Canadiens, and they may regret it if the team doesn’t bother giving him a shot for at least a few games on the third line this season.
