|
In Hainsight: Timely Trade Embodies Habs’ Game Plan |
|
|
|
|
|
Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Shortly after the free agency opened, the Canadiens announced that they had traded alternate captain Joel Edmundson to the Washington Capitals for 2 picks in the 2024 draft (3rd and 7th round). The Canadiens will also retain half of Edmundson’s $3.5 million salary.
Armchairs GMs on social media were quick to criticize the trade, lamenting a poor return and claiming that more could have been had at the next trade deadline. Keeping hold of Edmundson would have been a gamble though, “Steady Eddy” has been battling a back injury for the last two seasons and Hughes’ experience with Sean Monahan last season was a cautionary tale. An injury can prevent you from maximizing the value of your assets on trade deadline day and a couple of picks in the offseason is better than a big fat nothing at the deadline.
Furthermore, the move also made sense given how crowded the Canadiens’ blue line is, especially on the left side. Edmundson’s departure will allow the team’s young defenders to see more ice time and prevent one of them from being a healthy-scratch every other night.
After the trade was announced, the team let it be known that Kent Hughes would be speaking to the media at 2:00 PM. Given the fact that the free agency had just opened it was a clear message that the Canadiens wouldn’t be making any big signing on the day, not that it was unexpected.
When he spoke to the press, Hughes confirmed that Edmundson’s minutes would be split amongst the team’s existing young defense corps as he says the young defensemen have matured and are ready for more.
About the team’s decision not to pursue free agents this time around, Hughes was very transparent, firstly, he doesn’t want to have to put Price on LTIR before the start of the season for monetary reason and secondly, and probably more importantly, he said that signing a player who’s 31 or 32 years old for immediate help could potentially just hinder the development of the team’s young players. Needless to say, that in the context of a rebuild, this would be counterproductive. For those who are worried about the team lacking veteran presence, this shouldn't be an issue, the Canadiens still have Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, Sean Monahan, David Savard, Mike Matheson and well, captain Nick Suzuki is no longer a rookie either and can definitely help his young teammates learn the ropes.
Once the free agency frenzy dies down, Hughes will set his sights on working out new deals for Alex Newhook, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylonen, once those matters are sorted, he’ll be free to start thinking about a possible extension for Samuel Montembeault. Given the organizational situation in net, Hughes didn’t discard the possibility of getting another goaltender on the market in readiness of possible injuries. Hughes also admitted that further trades could happen in order to trim down the roster, especially up front.
Montreal did make a couple of signings on the day, inking forward Philippe Maillet and defenseman Brady Keeper to one-year, two-way deals. Those are of course depth signings for the Laval Rocket.
A few players did leave the organization yesterday as UFAs Anthony Richard, Alex Belzile, Corey Schueneman and Jonathan Drouin signed with other teams. Drouin is the biggest name of the group and his departure didn’t come as a surprise to anyone, nor did his destination since every year come trade deadline day, there was speculation on a possible reunion with LHJMQ linemate Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado. Given the trend Drouin’s career was taking though, Sakic and co. knew they only had to wait to get the forward for free and they got him to agree to a modest one year, $825,000 contract. Hopefully, Drouin makes the most of this opportunity away from the Montreal pressure-cooker market. It’s hard not to root for the man who never shied away from the hard questions over the years in this hockey mad market and who was very involved in the community and multiple charitable endeavors.
Today should be a quiet day in Habs land, aside from the fact that the team’s prospects will be hitting the ice for the first time on day two of the organization’s development camp. Hopefully, their social media staff get us some great content to feast our eyes on and nobody exceeds their “Rate limit” before they do so, looking at you Mr. Musk…
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»