A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: 7 Talking Points From Past 7 Days

By Sebastian High

MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 04: Jeff Petry #26 of the Montreal Canadiens and teammate Joel Armia #40 collide during the overtime period against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell Centre on March 4, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 04: Jeff Petry #26 of the Montreal Canadiens and teammate Joel Armia #40 collide during the overtime period against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell Centre on March 4, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 10: Joel Edmundson #44 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 10: Joel Edmundson #44 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

5. Joel Edmundson

Big Joel Edmundson, not to be confused with Big Josh Anderson, has quietly been the Canadiens’ best defenceman this past week. He seems to have benefitted from the coaching change nearly as much as Jonathan Drouin, which has caught me by surprise. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was unenthused by his acquisition and signing in the offseason, I thought he wouldn’t bring anything to the equation that this team didn’t already have and that his arrival would only further the lack of mobility on the team’s backend, as I stated in my offseason grades.

While the last part of that remains true, this team is desperate for more mobility on defence, Joel Edmundson has proven to be a valuable part of the team. In my mind, he should be the third defenceman protected in the expansion draft rather than Ben Chiarot. In the past week, Jeff Petry has struggled a fair amount defensively, routinely turning the puck over and making poor decisions. Edmundson was always there to steady the ship and the Habs would have lost at least one of the OT games in regulation were it not for his defensive efforts.

He has been effective in denying zone entries, he has been physical and his gap control has improved. Most noticeably, however, his breakout passes have been significantly better; crisp rather than the indecisive and inaccurate ones he routinely displayed previously. I felt more comfortable defensively with Edmundson on the ice this week than I did when Shea Weber was.

I came across a comment on Reddit that I can’t seem to find again that really encapsulated Edmundson’s play. It was something along the lines of “Edmundson is to Petry what the media believes Chiarot is to Weber”. Edmundson has allowed Petry to truly breakout offensively; he has been extremely reliable on the backend… unlike Chiarot.

While Edmundson is not primed for the spotlight, he has been as invaluable to the Canadiens this season as Jake Allen, Tyler Toffoli and Josh Anderson have been. I would not want to see how the Habs would play without these four at the moment, it would most certainly be worse than last season; and by a good margin.

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