Toronto Maple Leafs: Joey Anderson Trade Wasn’t a Bust

While it won’t be an ideal result for the Toronto Maple Leafs if Joey Anderson is picked up on waivers, the initial trade that brought him in shouldn’t be seen as a bust.

After all, when the Toronto Maple Leafs made the trade with the New Jersey Devils that sent Andreas Johnsson the opposite way, they were acquiring a prospect that had every chance of one day making the roster.

Some prospects make it to the NHL roster and others spend more time on the Toronto Marlies roster, as the result of limited spots and a lot of competition.

Joey Anderson speaks to that perfectly; he’s highlighted himself as a capable option to step into the bottom-half of an NHL roster, but the Maple Leafs simply have too many of those options.

Toronto Maple Leafs Depth Chart Stands In The Way

Much like Josh Leivo and Travis Dermott before him, Joey Anderson is a victim of the Toronto Maple Leafs impressive depth chart. It now appears he’s been cut from the Leafs roster and will be sent to the Marlies.

In fact, we are simply assuming that he is put on waivers and ultimately claimed. There is an off-chance that he clears waivers and then becomes a decent piece to throw-in on a trade or as a first call-up if injuries happen.

Even so, assuming he is claimed off waivers, as you’d expect from a 24 year-old that put up 42 points in 56 AHL games last year (per HockeyDB) and is definitely not going to make the bottom-six of most teams any worse, it’s not a bust.

The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t benefit directly from Joey Anderson in terms of playing time, with just 5 NHL games played, but the Toronto Marlies did so that’s hardly a loss, albeit not really much of a win either.

Likewise, you must look at the deal that saw him arrive with the team. The Maple Leafs save just over $2.5 million in cap space this year (per CapFriendly) courtesy of dealing Andreas Johnsson and it’s not as if he has set the world on fire in New Jersey.

Some might argue that Kyle Dubas was guilty of painting himself into a corner by signing the Swedish winger to that deal, but sometimes players need to be rewarded and in doing so sign their ticket out of town.

If we were talking about the trade in light of Johnsson dominating in the Devils’ top-six; the whole thing is a different story, but we’re not. In fact, his production has very much diminished since leaving Toronto.

What the Toronto Maple Leafs gained was a player seeking an opportunity that kept his teammates honest in pushing for NHL roster recognition. He may not have made the cut ultimately, but it’s hard to view the initial trade as anything less than a break-even deal.

Joey Anderson wasn’t a sure thing but equally failed to make any catastrophic mistakes or create issues – a low risk deal with the opportunity of high reward that realistically ended up being low risk, low reward.

If we’re about to see Anderson waived and picked up by another team, best of luck to him. If he remains within the Toronto Maple Leafs organization; let’s hope he keeps his head down and keeps himself in the spotlight when injuries occur.