From what I can recall the insiders with credibility only said that teams enquired about Anderson and that some of the offers were "serious". A quick google search shows this
However that doesn't a 1st was actually on the table, it doesn't mean we weren't being asked to retain 50% of his contract, it doesn't mean we were being asked to take on a huge cap dump. I think this summer before the Laine trade people even talked about a Hubredeau for Anderson type of deal, it would've been a serious offer but not because Anderson had a ton of value but because Hubredeau had even less value.
Personally I very much doubt anyone offered a 1st round pick straight up for Anderson without retention simply because playoff teams just don't have the kind of cap space lying around. So if it's retain 50% and take on a 2-3m cap dump signed for a couple years then I could see why we would say no even with the late 1st being the incentive.
Lebrun himself was quoted... "
I can assure you a 1st was offered for Anderson". I can't find it but it was said and it's not some spin on it either! But yeah, we don't know the context of the entire offer. Cap dumps, retention, etc.
Heading into this season, you can find this quote from me... "Expecting Anderson to rebound in a bottom 6F role is reaching".
Make no mistake... A lot of GM's would love to have Anderson's size and skating on their roster. They just want to acquire for cheap and not have him on their roster at a high AAV. Reasonable to assume because we would expect the same if the situation was reversed.