Confirmed with Link: Devils acquire Andreas Johnsson from Toronto for Joey Anderson

[Brodeur]

That being said, we signed J.Merrill so any feedback is appreciated. What side does he prefer to play? What side D is he better at, or is he equally adept at both L/R. Strengths/Weaknesses. Reasonable expectations (on a lottery team), TOI best suited for? Thanks & we hope to see you in the playoffs one of these years.

Merrill primarily played the left side for us and from what I remember at Michigan he was used on his strong side. Merrill was a tough one to peg since it seemed like he had another gear but just never was engaged. I remember this stretch when Merrill had been healthy scratched occasionally but the Devils had a rash of injuries so they had to play Merrill top pairing minutes. For those handful of games he played really well, but when everybody came back he faded into the background again.

Strengths.....decent passer. Weaknesses, average/below average shot, not particularly physical for somebody who's 6'3. Vegas was playing him 18 minutes and he was seemingly doing reasonably well. After his freshman year at Michigan, I thought Merrill had 30+ point potential in the NHL but he's probably at best on your 2nd PP unit.

 

[ninetyeight]

He played with amazing players on the Leafs, I’m not sure what chemistry could unlock.

That's exactly why I said it, chemistry is everything. First of all it's not like Matthews is some mastermind playmaker, he's more of a guy that gets the job done himself regardless of his linemates. But someone who comes from the same background, thinks the game same way and has a playmaking / pass first mentality, like Jesper Bratt could unlock something really great from this guy.

And don't get me wrong, if he puts up similar point totals (or even less) that he did with the leafs, I'm still happy about this trade. But like always I'd rather be optimistic and dream big. What he has done outside NHL suggests he could be a 60-80pts player eventually. The stats he put up in SHL in his D+1 and +2 years are not that far from what Alex Holtz is doing right now. And how about those 17-18 AHL playoffs, 10+14, 24pts in 16 games!

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

Andreas Johnsson

Take a look at his YouTube highlight goals and you will notice amazing hands, talent and a nose for the net. This isn't a bang-bang home one trick pony, this kid has raw talent and a burst of speed. Great job Devils organization!

 

[TBF1972]

There is a slight chance Anderson becomes a better player than Johnsson. While I acknowledge there's a chance, it's slight, and it's not likely happening this year or next. The Devils need good players and they got a 2LW, 2nd pairing LHD dman, and excellent 1B for Joey Anderson and a 5th.

the devils have plenty of options to replace anderson internally. merkley, bastian, zetterlund, moynihan and mercer are all options for this or future seasons. mercer hopefully is overqualified for this task.

 

[TBF1972]

I would do the Subban trade again even with him having the year he just had tbh

we gave up nothing of value

and nashville basically retained $ 1,416,667 the first two seasons.

 

[RSeen]

Andreas Johnsson

Take a look at his YouTube highlight goals and you will notice amazing hands, talent and a nose for the net. This isn't a bang-bang home one trick pony, this kid has raw talent and a burst of speed. Great job Devils organization!

Pretty evident that he scores a lot of his goals in front of the net as well. Could be a strong compliment to Jack or Nico and also potentially be a good PP1 or 2 option.

 

[JimEIV]

I like Anderson and think his ceiling could be a 20 goal 40 point guy, but it is a little alarming that his offensive development has kind of stalled the past few years. His AHL production is worse than Reid Boucher and slightly better than Nick Lappin.

Granted he brings a lot of other things when he's not scoring. But he's 5'10" 190 lbs, let's not pretend he's Cam Neely out there. Johnsson is the same size he is and has considerably more talent.

Johnsson right now is better than Anderson's best case scenario. I don't think Anderson can be a 50 point guy. He will be a very good NHL player but are sorely starved for offense and Johnsson is unquestionably the superior player in that regard.

Huh? I don't think you are comparing apples to apples here...

Anderson has spent the majority of his NHL time with amazingly talented players....He was with either Matthews or Marner for a large portion of his career

But at the same point in their careers I am not seeing a clear offensive advantage - Their ages were almost identical too during their AHL years


Anderson 57 AHL games 40 points .70 PPG -

Johnsson 129 AHL games 101 points .78 PPG - 75 of his 129 games played on a team that won the Calder cup and had 54 wins in the 2017-18 season.

Johnsson 46 goals in 129 AHL games - .36 gpg - Again on a team that was 3rd Best in the league in scoring
Anderson 17 goals in 57 games - .30 gpg - On team that was 4th to Last in scoring

Yeah I think Johnsson's numbers look better because of his fortunate situations throughout his time in North America.

 

[Oneiro]

Ah yes, that fortunate scenario where they hand a 7th round pick key minutes and linemates.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Huh? I don't think you are comparing apples to apples here...

Anderson has spent the majority of his NHL time with amazingly talented players....He was with either Matthews or Marner for a large portion of his career

But at the same point in their careers I am not seeing a clear offensive advantage - Their ages were almost identical too during their AHL years


Anderson 57 AHL games 40 points .70 PPG -

Johnsson 129 AHL games 101 points .78 PPG - 75 of his 129 games played on a team that won the Calder cup and had 54 wins in the 2017-18 season.

Johnsson 46 goals in 129 AHL games - .36 gpg - Again on a team that was 3rd Best in the league in scoring
Anderson 17 goals in 57 games - .30 gpg - On team that was 4th to Last in scoring

Yeah I think Johnsson's numbers look better because of his fortunate situations throughout his time in North America.

I must agree with with @Out of Business here. I think the myth that Johnsson is a top-flight second liner and Anderson is some future 4th-line grinder is just silly. I think Anderson will be a pretty good third-liner this year, if Toronto chooses to give him those minutes.

Ultimately, I have said I don't hate the deal, simply because Johnsson makes the Devils better right now, and the first round draft picks of both Holtz and Mercer clearly affected Anderson's status on the Devils depth chart. But we also need to face the fact that what Johnsson is right now -- a good and well-rounded third-line LW with the requisite offensive pop to slot up to an offensive line -- is something which is clearly attainable by Joey Anderson in the very near future.

Anderson is already a very good defensive player, and his compete level and hockey IQ are both excellent. His offensive presence seemed to increase with the more ice time and experience he received, both at the AHL level and in brief stints with the Devils. I would not be surprised if Anderson were the superior player to Johnsson by the end of the 2021-22 season.

It won't happen because the Leafs are deeper at RW than LW, but if Anderson were given regular minutes with Matthews or Tavares like Johnsson has received, I feel he would blow away Johnsson's point production this year. 21 points in 43 games on that high-octane Leafs team has to be concerning, injury or no.

But while dispelling the myths of Johnsson being better than he is or Anderson being some no-upside grinder, we also must understand that Fitzgerald needed a LW to play a middle six role, and a top six role in case of injury to Bratt or ineffectiveness by Boqvist -- who I still hold out hope to crack the 2020-21 roster as the 2nd line LW. Johnsson has the ability to slot up the line-up at LW right now, and he is also a complete player who gives you a good 200-foot game and some net-front presence.

So, right now it looks like not a great deal, not a terrible one. I don't think the Devils should have given up a player of Anderson's quality who now becomes a top-3 forward prospect in Toronto behind only Amirov and Robertson. Toronto is still over the cap, and Johnsson is a useful player, but not exactly a guy who teams would be lining up for. I think they would have given him for less.

But again, the Devils drafted two RWs in the top 18 picks this year, and acquired a player stylistically similar to Anderson with Nick Merkley. So they could afford to give him up in order to improve right now, and this is certainly defendable logic. I do agree with you wholeheartedly that the myth should be dispelled that Johnsson is somehow a far superior offensive talent to Anderson, because it's probably not the case.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I guarantee there were numerous teams lining up to acquire Johnsson.

Anderson is a fine prospect, but his absolute ceiling is a 40 point 3rd liner. Johnsson is already that and probably a little better. If Anderson ever scores 40 points in a season, I will be very surprised.

We all like Anderson but the fact is he simply is a prospect that basically every team across the league has. The Devils have a ton of his tier of forward prospect and just drafted 2 better last week.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I guarantee there were numerous teams lining up to acquire Johnsson.

Anderson is a fine prospect, but his absolute ceiling is a 40 point 3rd liner. Johnsson is already that and probably a little better. If Anderson ever scores 40 points in a season, I will be very surprised.

We all like Anderson but the fact is he simply is a prospect that basically every team across the league has. The Devils have a ton of his tier of forward prospect and just drafted 2 better last week.

I'd counter that if Anderson played on a line with Tavares and Marner, he might score 40 points this year and give you a superior 200-foot game to Johnsson.

I watched a Leafs game with a couple of buddies this year, and I remember we were talking about how much better they would be if they had a first-line LW so they could slot Hyman down to where he belonged on the 2nd line and Johnsson down to where he belonged on the third line.

I agree with you that teams certainly called the Leafs concerning Johnsson's obvious availability. But I would also say it's a safe assumption that Joey Anderson was clearly the best return offer they could muster. I'd guess most of the offers they fielded were a third or fourth-round pick. Anderson's value is probably equivalent to a 2nd round pick right now, I'm sure everyone can agree on that, and it was the offer the Leafs went with.

 

[My3Sons]

I must agree with with @Out of Business here. I think the myth that Johnsson is a top-flight second liner and Anderson is some future 4th-line grinder is just silly. I think Anderson will be a pretty good third-liner this year, if Toronto chooses to give him those minutes.

Ultimately, I have said I don't hate the deal, simply because Johnsson makes the Devils better right now, and the first round draft picks of both Holtz and Mercer clearly affected Anderson's status on the Devils depth chart. But we also need to face the fact that what Johnsson is right now -- a good and well-rounded third-line LW with the requisite offensive pop to slot up to an offensive line -- is something which is clearly attainable by Joey Anderson in the very near future.

Anderson is already a very good defensive player, and his compete level and hockey IQ are both excellent. His offensive presence seemed to increase with the more ice time and experience he received, both at the AHL level and in brief stints with the Devils. I would not be surprised if Anderson were the superior player to Johnsson by the end of the 2021-22 season.

It won't happen because the Leafs are deeper at RW than LW, but if Anderson were given regular minutes with Matthews or Tavares like Johnsson has received, I feel he would blow away Johnsson's point production this year. 21 points in 43 games on that high-octane Leafs team has to be concerning, injury or no.

But while dispelling the myths of Johnsson being better than he is or Anderson being some no-upside grinder, we also must understand that Fitzgerald needed a LW to play a middle six role, and a top six role in case of injury to Bratt or ineffectiveness by Boqvist -- who I still hold out hope to crack the 2020-21 roster as the 2nd line LW. Johnsson has the ability to slot up the line-up at LW right now, and he is also a complete player who gives you a good 200-foot game and some net-front presence.

So, right now it looks like not a great deal, not a terrible one. I don't think the Devils should have given up a player of Anderson's quality who now becomes a top-3 forward prospect in Toronto behind only Amirov and Robertson. Toronto is still over the cap, and Johnsson is a useful player, but not exactly a guy who teams would be lining up for. I think they would have given him for less.

But again, the Devils drafted two RWs in the top 18 picks this year, and acquired a player stylistically similar to Anderson with Nick Merkley. So they could afford to give him up in order to improve right now, and this is certainly defendable logic. I do agree with you wholeheartedly that the myth should be dispelled that Johnsson is somehow a far superior offensive talent to Anderson, because it's probably not the case.

I think that Fitz sees the top six as Foote Bratt Jack Nico Mercer and Holtz. He’s got Boquist if he can surpass Bratt. I think Anderson has untapped offensive potential based on seeing him play a skilled passing role on the PP in college. I think at this point Fitz is just looking for a some two to three year place holders until Foot Mercer Holtz and/or Boquist start trickling into the lineup. I agree Anderson can be an equal to or better player than what I understand Johnsson to be. That said Johnsson should fit the near term timeline and role a bit better than Anderson. He can play a top six role for now since NJ really doesn’t have a good fit fit a top six LW beyond Bratt until Boquist develops. NJ also has a plethora of bottom six wingers that can presumably help make up for the loss of Anderson. This isn’t the sort of deal you make in a vacuum but Fitz saw it as some sort of upgrade since the team is paying more for Johnsson than it would for Anderson over the next couple of years at least. Hopefully this is one of those deals we look back on and say it did what it was supposed to do and help bridge the team until the young wingers arrive.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I think that Fitz sees the top six as Foote Bratt Jack Nico Mercer and Holtz. He’s got Boquist if he can surpass Bratt. I think Anderson has untapped offensive potential based on seeing him play a skilled passing role on the PP in college. I think at this point Fitz is just looking for a some two to three year place holders until Foot Mercer Holtz and/or Boquist start trickling into the lineup. I agree Anderson can be an equal to or better player than what I understand Johnsson to be. That said Johnsson should fit the near term timeline and role a bit better than Anderson. He can play a top six role for now since NJ really doesn’t have a good fit fit a top six LW beyond Bratt until Boquist develops. NJ also has a plethora of bottom six wingers that can presumably help make up for the loss of Anderson. This isn’t the sort of deal you make in a vacuum but Fitz saw it as some sort of upgrade since the team is paying more for Johnsson than it would for Anderson over the next couple of years at least. Hopefully this is one of those deals we look back on and say it did what it was supposed to do and help bridge the team until the young wingers arrive.

Yep, agreed with everything you're saying here.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Huh? I don't think you are comparing apples to apples here...

Anderson has spent the majority of his NHL time with amazingly talented players....He was with either Matthews or Marner for a large portion of his career

But at the same point in their careers I am not seeing a clear offensive advantage - Their ages were almost identical too during their AHL years


Anderson 57 AHL games 40 points .70 PPG -

Johnsson 129 AHL games 101 points .78 PPG - 75 of his 129 games played on a team that won the Calder cup and had 54 wins in the 2017-18 season.

Johnsson 46 goals in 129 AHL games - .36 gpg - Again on a team that was 3rd Best in the league in scoring
Anderson 17 goals in 57 games - .30 gpg - On team that was 4th to Last in scoring

Yeah I think Johnsson's numbers look better because of his fortunate situations throughout his time in North America.

AHL scoring stats for two different players. Can you tell who they are?

Player A: 0.34 G/GM, 0.64 PTS/GM
Player B: 0.33 G/GM, 0.64 PTS/GM

Any guesses? Player A is Nick Lappin, Player B is Adam Henrique. AHL scoring is nice but if that's all you got it ain't much. Bergfors produced in the AHL, Quenneville produced in the AHL, Lappin and Boucher did too. Picking stats out of a vacuum does not necessarily translate into who will be able to reach the next level.

Like I said Anderson's production in Bingo this year was encouraging, but after following two pretty rough developmental years I need more than 40 AHL games to feel confident calling him a 20 goal guy. Whereas Johnsson has produced as a top player everywhere he's gone.

When looking back at his time in Frolunda - he was 5th in team scoring at 18 years old, 3rd in scoring at 19, and 2nd at 20. Who was the superstar forward carrying him those years? Next season at 21, his first year in NA, he was 3rd in team scoring. The only players who scored more than him were Kerby Reichel and Brandon Leipsic, not exactly premium prospects. At 22 he was 2nd in team scoring (the #1 player, Ben Smith, played 19 more games). He rookie year at 23 he was "only" 7th on his team in points, but that was still 20 NHL goals. And then last year obviously he missed half the season with a knee injury.

Marner and Matthews never played in the AHL, and Nylander was gone after 2016 (AJ came over in time to play two playoff games during Nylander's time there). Unless you're suggesting Brandon Leipsic and Ben Smith were carrying him with the Marlies?

Bottom line is that he's been trending in a straight upward line his whole career. His underlying numbers are excellent and he has a history of producing everywhere he's been. He is a great addition. Of course I would have preferred to give up Bastian or Gignac or some other lesser prospect, but I'm not going to cry in the corner. Everyone wanted us to add a scoring forward and we did for way below market value (Pittsburgh gave up a 1st for Kapanen!)

 

[My3Sons]

Yep, agreed with everything you're saying here.

I think being older I’m less prone to hyperbole than I used to be. I read a bit of the main board thread on this trade and at one point it started to devolve into Leafs fans and anti-Leafs fans trying to act as if the trade was some sort of disaster for Dubas or that the Leafs “won” by dumping a bad contract and getting something back. Can you imagine being a fan of a team that much in the spotlight where everything gets dissected to that degree and with such vitriol? I couldn’t do it. I actually feel bad for reasonable Leafs fans and kids that root for the team. Short of winning a cup in the next five or so years they are going to be portrayed as abject failures worse than an OTT or DET or NJ even if they make the playoffs and win a couple of rounds.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I can understand why the Devils would want to move away from using Nico around the net on the PP but that is almost certainly the best place for him there. He's not really good at anything else a power play calls for in the offensive zone.

How do you know this?

 

[JimEIV]

AHL scoring stats for two different players. Can you tell who they are?

Player A: 0.34 G/GM, 0.64 PTS/GM
Player B: 0.33 G/GM, 0.64 PTS/GM

Any guesses? Player A is Nick Lappin, Player B is Adam Henrique. AHL scoring is nice but if that's all you got it ain't much. Bergfors produced in the AHL, Quenneville produced in the AHL, Lappin and Boucher did too. Picking stats out of a vacuum does not necessarily translate into who will be able to reach the next level.

Like I said Anderson's production in Bingo this year was encouraging, but after following two pretty rough developmental years I need more than 40 AHL games to feel confident calling him a 20 goal guy. Whereas Johnsson has produced as a top player everywhere he's gone.

When looking back at his time in Frolunda - he was 5th in team scoring at 18 years old, 3rd in scoring at 19, and 2nd at 20. Who was the superstar forward carrying him those years? Next season at 21, his first year in NA, he was 3rd in team scoring. The only players who scored more than him were Kerby Reichel and Brandon Leipsic, not exactly premium prospects. At 22 he was 2nd in team scoring (the #1 player, Ben Smith, played 19 more games). He rookie year at 23 he was "only" 7th on his team in points, but that was still 20 NHL goals. And then last year obviously he missed half the season with a knee injury.

Marner and Matthews never played in the AHL, and Nylander was gone after 2016 (AJ came over in time to play two playoff games during Nylander's time there). Unless you're suggesting Brandon Leipsic and Ben Smith were carrying him with the Marlies?

Bottom line is that he's been trending in a straight upward line his whole career. His underlying numbers are excellent and he has a history of producing everywhere he's been. He is a great addition. Of course I would have preferred to give up Bastian or Gignac or some other lesser prospect, but I'm not going to cry in the corner. Everyone wanted us to add a scoring forward and we did for way below market value (Pittsburgh gave up a 1st for Kapanen!)

How many times do we have to go over how Henriques numbers are skewed because of the lockout....You have done this before... and using outlying situation doesn't prove your point.

Not to mention that you are comparing a 24 year old with 4 years of NCAA experience to a 20 year old fresh out of Junior in Henrique and Lappin.

I am also not sure Johnsson is the "scoring forward" he is being portrayed in this thread....We'll see, that is why I initially said I'll reserve judgement.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I did forget about Talvitie, but I don't think it's that likely that he is better than Anderson - he only has 11 goals in 47 NCAA games. I like Talvitie but he has the same concerns about his overall game as Anderson.

I'm talking about as a pker and that role that Anderson would've fulfilled. Not necessarily his offense.

 

[StevenToddIves]

How many times do we have to go over how Henriques numbers are skewed because of the lockout....You have done this before... and using outlying situation doesn't prove your point.

Not to mention that you are comparing a 24 year old with 4 years of NCAA experience to a 20 year old fresh out of Junior in Henrique and Lappin.

I am also not sure Johnsson is the "scoring forward" he is being portrayed in this thread....We'll see, that is why I initially said I'll reserve judgement.

Again, I agree with you here.

But also again, I'd like to add for everybody following this thread that the Johnsson for Anderson deal is far from a terrible deal, and I'm not complaining about it. Johnsson makes the Devils better right now, he's a solid third liner who can slot up the line-up in a pinch and adds a complete game and net-front presence.

The point I'm trying to make is that I've been watching Anderson closely since he was 17, and the idea that his upside is an 8-minute per game 4th line grinder is as silly as the idea that Johnsson is a bona fide top 6 scorer. I stay off Toronto threads for obvious reasons (they're craaaazy), but I laughed out loud at some of the comments about how robbed they got in the deal. In my estimation, Joey Anderson was certainly the best they could have gotten for Johnsson, probably more than Dubas initially hoped for, and I stand my comments that Anderson will be the better player out of the two sooner rather than later.

Ultimately, Mr. Fitzgerald's logic was sound. He just drafted RWs with star-quality upside at #7 and #18 overall, and they jumped to the front of a RW prospect group which was already deep with mid-6 and bottom-6 hopefuls. Anderson was certainly a logical choice to include in a deal to strengthen other areas of the line-up. Johnsson certainly achieves this goal. So, again, not a terrible deal. But not a great one, either.

The Ryan Murray deal was a great deal. In this trade, the Devils gave up virtually nothing to get a player who immediately becomes the best LD on the team. The Johnsson deal is more giving up a guy who will be better later for a guy who is better now. But are the Devils better now? Yes. Do the Devils still have the strongest and deepest RW prospect group in the entire NHL? Also, yes. So, all is well.

 

[Guttersniped]

I think being older I’m less prone to hyperbole than I used to be. I read a bit of the main board thread on this trade and at one point it started to devolve into Leafs fans and anti-Leafs fans trying to act as if the trade was some sort of disaster for Dubas or that the Leafs “won” by dumping a bad contract and getting something back. Can you imagine being a fan of a team that much in the spotlight where everything gets dissected to that degree and with such vitriol? I couldn’t do it. I actually feel bad for reasonable Leafs fans and kids that root for the team. Short of winning a cup in the next five or so years they are going to be portrayed as abject failures worse than an OTT or DET or NJ even if they make the playoffs and win a couple of rounds.

Also there’s a tendency for a segment of this board to hear “bottom six forward” and translate that to “garbage person”. Anderson is exactly the type of player they need, this is a good trade for them. If the market was slightly better they would have at least gotten a pick too, but them’s the breaks.

Maybe Dubas is curbing his insatiable desire for offense. I was very amused that Sakic was able to pawn Kerfoot off on Dubas and couldn’t believe he actually kept him. Some Leaf fans were bragging about his offense, but the Leafs needed a shutdown center and why pay for offense you don’t need?

So last season the Leafs had the 2nd most GF and 7th most GA (we’re 6th) and they have a failed 2nd line scoring center with a “bargain” 3.5m cap hit for three more years. Kerfoot isn’t terrible at defense, he isn’t a debacle as a 3rd line center, but he’s not even in spitting distance to a shut down center and you can get excellent one of those for a 1m less. They couldn’t keep Kadri but woof, not the player they needed at all.

 

[AfroThunder396]

How many times do we have to go over how Henriques numbers are skewed because of the lockout....You have done this before... and using outlying situation doesn't prove your point.

Not to mention that you are comparing a 24 year old with 4 years of NCAA experience to a 20 year old fresh out of Junior in Henrique and Lappin.

I am also not sure Johnsson is the "scoring forward" he is being portrayed in this thread....We'll see, that is why I initially said I'll reserve judgement.

lmao of course you want to nitpick on something that was entirely not the point of my post instead of addressing Anderson's rocky development or Johnsson's long history of point production across multiple leagues. Have a nice day.

 

[Forge]

Honestly, the only derogatory thing I can potentially say about this trade is that maybe we took our shot too early. I think that there is a legitimate case that can be made that Johnsson isn't worth 3.4 x 3 in this environment if he's not a 50 point guy. That being said, he could absolutely be a 50 point guy for us lol. So I don't think that is a question we can answer right here and now. But if a guy like Kahun signs for 2 x 2 or something, can see how how people would waffle on this trade just a bit.

 

[glenwo2]

Andreas Johnsson

Take a look at his YouTube highlight goals and you will notice amazing hands, talent and a nose for the net. This isn't a bang-bang home one trick pony, this kid has raw talent and a burst of speed. Great job Devils organization!

Is this your opinion or did you copy and paste it from somewhere?

Or maybe you tried posting a Youtube video and it didn't show up?

Just curious.

 

[JimEIV]

lmao of course you want to nitpick on something that was entirely not the point of my post instead of addressing Anderson's rocky development or Johnsson's long history of point production across multiple leagues. Have a nice day.

There was no rocky development is what I am saying.....

Everyone and their mom knew Anderson's production was going to drop after his Freshman year. Duluth lost a bunch of players who were top scorers on the team that year. I think I even made the comment here that people were going to say something about his production dropping even before it happened.

He never had a full season in the AHL. The year after he left school he played 13 games in the AHL and had 6 points. The following year, last year, he played 44 games and had 34 points....They only dip in his path is his sophomore year at Duluth after the team lost 3 of the 4 top scorers and Anderson was one of the 4. And he missed about 7 college games his sophomore year for the World Juniors where he had a Point per game.

Edit: it was actually 5 of the top 6 scorers left after Anderson's Freshman year: All these guys were gone the following year - except for Anderson of course - And 5 of the 6 names have played in the NHL - two pretty successfully - So the team had a massive talent drain. They went from 4 guys over 30 points along with a 50 point scorer to the following season only have two guy over 30 points (30 and 36) - His Freshaman year the top 5 scorers produced 188 points and in sophomore season the top 5 scorers produced 148 points - Huge difference

Alex Iafallo	L	42	21	30	51	22	22						NY: Eden	22
	Adam Johnson	C	42	18	19	37	18	5						MN: Grand Rapids	22
	Joey Anderson	R	39	12	25	37	8	11						MN: Roseville	18
	Neal Pionk	D	42	7	27	34	25	24						NE: Omaha	21
	Dominic Toninato	C	42	16	13	29	30	25						MN: Duluth	22
	Kyle Osterberg	F	42	12	11	23	24	7						MN: Lakeville	21

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Anderson also improved in the Pro's quite significantly from year 1 to year 2

1st year
AHL 13 games - 6 points = .46 PPG
NHL 34 games - 7 points = .205 PPG - This NHL experience is as a 20 year old - Johansson's first stint in the NHL was as a 23 year old.

2nd year
AHL 44 games - 34 points - .77 PPG
NHL 18 games - 6 points - .33 PPG as a 21 year old - Which Ironically, is identical to what Johnsson put up in his first stint - 3 points in 9 games .33 PPG as a 23 year year old

 

[Richer's Ghost]

If he can stay healthy with the Devils he will become a fan favorite quickly.