The inclusion of Joey Anderson in the package the Blackhawks received in the Jake McCabe trade was relatively overlooked, but he was more than just a throw-in.
The Hawks actually had an eye on him for a while. Several months ago, associate general manager Norm Maciver asked assistant coach Derek Plante what he knew about the 24-year-old wing who, at the time, was bouncing between the NHL and AHL in the Maple Leafs’ organization.
It turned out Plante knew quite a lot, having met Anderson when he was just 9. Eight years later, in 2015, Plante recruited Anderson to Minnesota-Duluth before leaving the school to become a Hawks development coach.
Since the Hawks swung the multifaceted deal Feb. 27 that brought Anderson to the Hawks, Plante has been helpful in getting him acclimated.
“He’s always around [to answer] any questions I have,” Anderson said. “He grabs me and helps me out with little things he sees here or there, so it has been great. The whole staff really has been nice, but obviously it’s nice to have a guy I’m more familiar with.
“It’s not so much big things, [but] just things in a game where he sees something and he’ll be like, ‘Hey, if you do this route, maybe come in at a different angle.’ It’s very minor things that are going on. Hopefully there haven’t been any big structural things.”
Despite the Hawks’ longstanding interest, Anderson is a pending restricted free agent, so this stretch run will be important to prove he’s worth re-signing as an affordable, useful bottom-six forward. He’s far from the only Hawks player in that boat.
So far, he’s off to a solid start, and he reached a new high point Tuesday with two points against the Bruins. He touts two goals and two assists in his first nine Hawks games, averaging about 11 and a half minutes of ice time primarily on the fourth line with Jujhar Khaira and Boris Katchouk.
More impressive is Anderson’s 50.7% scoring-chance ratio at five-on-five, which ranks among the team’s best during this span. He has finished at or above 50% in seven of those nine games, which is notable considering the Hawks (as a team) have finished above 50% in only two of the nine.
That fits with Anderson’s description of his playing style.
“It’s nothing flashy,” he said. “[If I] see a play in front of me, I’m going to make it. I try to get to the net, be good defensively. Some call it low-event hockey, but I think it’s efficient. For the most part, coaches know what they’re going to get.”
Plante and Hawks coach Luke Richardson have found that to be true.
“He has been great, both ways,” Richardson said. “Defensively and on the penalty kill, he has really fit in very well. He’s a feisty guy, he gets in and wins his 1-on-1 battles, and he has good-enough vision and hands to make a play when he does steal the puck.”
With a wife and 3-month-old daughter, Anderson appreciates the move to Chicago and its proximity to his hometown near Minneapolis. Now his focus is on trying to make his stay here last longer than a few months.
“[I’m] just trying to assert myself more, find a way to impact games, no matter what my minutes are, and help have a positive impact,” he said.
Added Richardson: “[He, Khaira and Katchouk] have been really good for us, just inching along and getting better and better. That’s why I’ve tried to keep them together, because they’re really giving us a boost right now.”
