There's a thread on the main board about Josh Anderson's value at 50% retained.
At $5.5m x2.5 it isn't viable, but at 50% ($2.75m aav) it would be pretty interesting imo.
His real salary is also lower in the last two years, at $5m and $3.5m, so at 50% that's $2.5m and $1.75m in the last two years.
The main issue would be Montreal's retention slots. They'd probably prefer to use them on their pending UFA's like Evans, Savard, Dvorak, or Armia this year. But if they'd get a decent enough return (eg. a 1st) maybe that's something they'd consider.
A 1st would seem unlikely from the Avs perspective, but something centered around the NYR 2025 2nd might be close enough as a main piece.
Anderson's defensive game has improved and he's a good PK'er, and he'd slot in at 3RW next to Drury.
Drouin - MacKinnon - Nichushkin
Lehkonen - Mittelstadt - Necas
Colton - Drury - Anderson
Wood - Kelly - O'Connor
Kiviranta/Parssinen
With ~$5.6m in capspace that would leave 2.85m left to spend on a Dman. For example you could still fit Dumoulin at 50% ($1.575m) or Lindgren at 50% ($2.25m).
Or alternatively you ship Colton to NJ and treat Anderson as his replacement, using the ~$1.25m savings towards Seth Jones.