Columbus Blue Jackets 17-18 Season Evaluation: Josh Anderson

With the Columbus Blue Jackets season over it’s time for the Union and Blue staff to give their evaluation of each player’s year.

The Columbus Blue Jackets season ended in the same manner as last year. A tough series loss but a team with a bright future that is close to breaking out of the first round. If the Jackets are going to do that, Josh Anderson has be a consistent presence for a full season next year.

Anderson had a less than ideal start to the season as his contract holdout carried over well into training camp. Anderson and the Jackets finally agreed to contract terms on October 2nd following the prolonged dispute over Anderson’s second contract with the team. He signed a three year deal worth $1.85 million a year.

At this point the Jackets had already completed their preseason schedule and were just four days away from the opener. The team had no choice but to send Anderson to Cleveland to get his legs underneath him. He missed the first two games of the regular season.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Even though it wasn’t an ideal start to the year, Anderson earned his contract in the first half of the campaign. In his first 37 games of the year he tallied 14 goals and 10 assist.

Anderson had a his season high three point night against Anaheim on December 1st which capped a five game point streak. He was the goal scoring leader for the entire team for the first half of the year and was looking like a steal at $1.85 million.

But January came and the scoring dried up. Anderson only scored one point in the entire month. That drop off in scoring was reflective of the entire team’s play in January and the Jackets began to spiral out of playoff contention.

Anderson’s play in February wasn’t much better. He only tallied four points in 13 games for the Jackets who were slowed to a crawl heading into the trade deadline.

The team found success after the trade deadline but did so without Anderson. Josh suffered a knee sprain agains the Washington Capitals on trade deadline day. Anderson missed the entire month of March including the Jackets 10 game winning streak. His absence was hardly noticed due to the new additions and scoring coming in bunches from every player. He returned with two games left in the regular season and scored a goal in the last game of the year.

Post Season Performance

Anderson was essentially robbed of a game in the playoffs this year. Early in game one, Anderson hit Capitals’ defenseman Michal Kempny from behind and was called for a major penalty and game misconduct on what at most should have been a minor penalty.

But the NHL referees in their enduring wisdom threw Anderson out of the game early in the first period.

Anderson recovered nicely though and played well throughout the rest of the playoffs. He ate up solid ice time and was never a liability for Torts. Josh finished the playoffs with a goal and two assist in essentially five games.

Anderson’s year mirrors the Columbus Blue Jackets season. Both started out the year well and heading into the New Year were looking like they couldn’t be stopped. But as the calendar turned to 2018, both the Jackets and Anderson’s year screeched to a halt. In the playoffs both were victims of poor calls, both played well on the whole but not good enough to get to the next round.

Next: Offseason Free Agent Forwards

Both Josh Anderson and the Jackets left a little to be desired but not terrible on the year. Both have bright futures and both can take big steps forward next season.