Montreal Canadiens Acquire Joel Edmundson From Hurricanes

The Montreal Canadiens have acquired defenceman Joel Edmundson from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2020 fifth-round pick.

The Montreal Canadiens are now at their second trade of the offseason. Upon acquiring Jake Allen from the St. Louis Blues, in hopes of solving a longstanding issue at the backup goaltending position, Marc Bergevin was looking to bolster his blueline by acquiring pending UFA Joel Edmundson.

At 6’4 and 27 years of age, Joel Edmundson has spent the majority of his career with the St. Louis Blues organization. In the 2019-20 regular season, Edmundson recorded a career-high 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists) in 68 games played as well as a goal in four games played in the playoffs.

As the Canadiens acquired Joel Edmundson prior to free agency, they have essentially traded for an extended time to negotiate a new contract. Edmundson had a cap hit of $3.1 million this season.

The Montreal Canadiens will have some decisions to make as the left side of their defence now includes the recently acquired Joel Edmundson, Victor Mete, Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak and blue-chip prospect Alexander Romanov who will be making his rookie debut next season.

Healthy competition at training camp is one thing, but with the number of players on the left, the team would be able to fill out five out of the six positions of their defensive pairings. It would not be surprising to see a defenceman shipped out during this offseason. Solely based on speculation, either Mete, Chiarot or Kulak can be the ones who move this offseason.

As of now, we may only speculate as to where Joel Edmundson may slot into the Montreal Canadiens lineup. Based on point totals alone, Edmundson ranks second with 20 behind Ben Chiarot’s 21 points, and after Victor Mete’s 11 points, Edmundson would be an ideal candidate to play with Shea Weber or Jeff Petry. However, this will also depend on any future moves that may be made.