Josh Anderson chose his number

New Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson will wear number 17 next season.

This is what the Habs Twitter account said on Monday afternoon.

The last player of the team to wear the 17 was Ilya Kovalchuk, who counted on his arrival in the Quebec metropolis on the generosity of Brett Kulak during the last campaign. The Russian wore this bib for his 22 meetings with the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge before being traded to the Washington Capitals. As a thank you to Kulak who agreed to offer him his number, Kovalchuk gave the Defender a Rolex watch.

Prior to that, Rinat Valiev had used 17. Among the players who also chose this number in Montreal, there are Georges Laraque, John LeClair, Craig Ludwig and Rene Bourque. The great Jean Béliveau also wore it briefly when it started in 1950-1951.

Anderson was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.