Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Joel Edmundson, Marc Bergevin, Free Agent, Jeff Petry, Shea Weber, Carey Price, Jake Allen, Alexander Romanov, Victor Mete
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — Marc Bergevin has been active since the team’s postseason elimination against the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. After the acquisition of Jake Allen from the St. Louis Blues, the Canadiens acquired pending unrestricted free agent Joel Edmundson from Carolina in return for a fifth round pick in this year’s draft.
The two sides agreed to terms on a four-year contract with a $3,500,000 cap hit expiring at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. The agreement includes a 10-team no trade clause for the defenseman.
Dream Come True
“As soon as I got traded there, I knew they were very interested. You obviously want to go to a team that really wants you. The Habs have been the favourite team of my family for my whole life. My dad has been a life-long Habs fan, and my dad’s side of the family is French, they all love the Canadiens. It just made sense. It’s a dream come true for me and my family,” Edmundson explained his decision.
After spending four seasons with the Blues, including a Stanley Cup win in 2019, Edmundson was traded to Carolina, where he played 68 regular season games before the season was paused and four games inside the Toronto bubble.
“You need depth, especially if we play a condensed schedule, it’s certain that the six defensemen that will start [the season] won’t be healthy for the whole year,” Bergevin told TVA Sports. “I speak to a lot of general managers, all the teams want defensemen and it would be unfortunate if we ended up in game 33, and there’s three defensemen missing for a week, and then I’m looking for one.”
What to Expect
Even though Edmundson tied his career high seven goals in the regular season, and set a new personal record of 20 points, the reports from Carolina were that his play was inconsistent. He played on average 18:27 and was used on the penalty-kill that finished fourth in the league.
His performance improved in the playoffs, playing on the second defensive unit with Brady Skjei, before being declared unfit to play after the first game of the series against the Bruins. In the postseason, he played an average of 23:41, including 30:33 in a double-overtime game against Boston, where he recorded one goal.
The scouting report on Edmundson is that he’s physical, shutdown defenseman, who is tough to play against. “I’m a fun guy in the dressing room. For myself, just going out there being physical, being that presence , you won’t find that in the analytics, something that the stats don’t really show, and that’s what I can bring to the team,” Edmundson described his contribution.
His style sounds similar to Ben Chiarot. “I think me and Chiarot are similar players,” answered the Canadiens newest acquisition when asked about the identical cap hit of both players.
From all appearances, it looks like Bergevin was looking to increase the size of his defensive unit, which some say was a factor in the Blues’ Cup victory. “We played physical, and at the same time we can all skate, and keep up with the faster forwards. Our main goal was to wear down the other team, and with us playing physical, and the forwards playing physical, I think we broke down a lot of teams, and I think that’s what made us make that run, and that’s why we were successful,” Edmundson explained the role of the defensemen in St. Louis that led to Stanley Cup win.
Leadership
Edmundson joins his former teammate Jake Allen as the only players on the roster that have won a Stanley Cup during their career. “It just gives you more confidence, but at the same time, once all the celebrating is over with, you just want to get that feeling over again. I just want to go out there, and give everything I can to win another one because that feeling is so special,” he said about the experience gained with St. Louis.
“I still felt like I was one of the younger guys in St. Louis, because it was an older team. But my year down in Carolina, I went into that locker room and I was instantly one of the older guys. It was a new leadership role I embraced. I just want to take that into Montreal’s dressing room. I hope they lean on me and obviously, Jake Allen too – he’s got a ring. I’m just looking forward to it. I want to be a leader in the dressing room and on the ice.”
Edmundson has been skating in the off-season for the past three years in Kelowna with Weber and Carey Price. At the time of the conference call, Weber had already reached out to welcome Edmundson to the team.
Defensive Pairs
The fun that usually comes with trying to figure out where a player will be used didn’t last long, as Edmundson said that the general manager told him that he would likely play on the second pairing with Jeff Petry. Chiarot and Weber will remain as the top unit. I would also expect that Edmundson is on the second penalty kill unit.
As a result, there will be a lot of competition for the third pairing. I think that Alexander Romanov, Brett Kulak, Victor Mete, Cale Fleury, and Noah Juulsen have the best chance to win those spots.
In the postseason, Mete was used on the right side of the third pairing, and it was clear that he’s not comfortable on his off-hand side. Edmundson played on his off-hand side for Carolina in the hub city, and can be an option for Montreal. “Throughout my career, I have always seem to be one of the guys that can play on my off-hand side. I feel like I can hit a one-timer pretty well, and it’s worked out. I feel comfortable on either side, obviously more comfortable on my left hand side, but I can always hop around, it’s not a big deal to me.”
Evaluation of Acquisition
As a stand-alone and if I was to ignore the team’s current players on the roster, I would think that Edmundson’s contract is fair in terms of dollars and term. However, reality is that the Canadiens already have physical defensemen in Shea Weber and Chiarot. In my opinion, Montreal needs players in the backend that can move the puck out of their own zone. If there’s no more changes to the defensemen before the start of the 2020-21 season, I believe that this acquisition was unnecessary.
Canadiens Connection podcast
These issues and other current Habs topics were discussed on this week’s episode of the Canadiens Connection. Listen and subscribe!
By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
Copyright © 2020 Rocket Sports