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Canadiens trade Domi to Blue Jackets for Anderson in swap of forwards

Oct 6, 2020 | 2:15 PM

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens have traded forward Max Domi to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for right-wing Josh Anderson.

Columbus also gets Montreal’s third-round pick at this week’s draft.

The 25-year-old Domi had 17 goals and 27 assists in 71 regular-season games with the Canadiens last season and added three assists in 10 post-season games.

His game took a step down after he posted career highs goals (28), assists (44) and points (72) over 82 games in 2018-19.

Domi is set to become a restricted free agent this week. He signed a two-year, US$6.3-million contract with Montreal after coming over in a June 2018 trade with Arizona that sent forward Alex Galchenyuk to the Coyotes.

Selected 12th-overall by the Coyotes in 2013, Domi has 81 goals and 170 assists over 375 career games with Arizona and Montreal.

The 26-year-old Anderson was limited to 26 games in 2019-20 after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery on March 2. He had a goal and three assists.

Selected in the fourth round of the by Columbus, Anderson has 65 goals and 50 assists over 267 NHL games.

Anderson is also set to become a restricted free agent as his three-year, $5.5-million contract comes to a close.

Also Tuesday, the Canadiens placed defenceman Karl Alzner on unconditional waivers for the purpose of buying out the remainder of his contract.

Alzner, 32, had two seasons remaining on a five-year deal with an average annual value of US$4.625 million that he signed as a free agent with Montreal in 2017.

He had one goal and 13 points in 95 games with Montreal.

After playing 82 games in his first season with the club in 2017-18, he spent the bulk of the next two seasons with the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket.

A junior star with the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen, Alzner was selected fifth overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2007 NHL draft.

The native of Burnaby, B.C., has 20 goals and 110 assists over 686 career NHL games with Washington and Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2020.

The Canadian Press