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Montreal Canadiens: Will Marc Bergevin Find More Help On The Blue Line?

By Patrick Lortie

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 02: Joel Edmundson #44 of the Montreal Canadiens skates against the Tampa Bay Lightning during Game Three of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Bell Centre on July 02, 2021 in Montreal, Quebec. The Lightning defeated the Canadiens 6-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 02: Joel Edmundson #44 of the Montreal Canadiens skates against the Tampa Bay Lightning during Game Three of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the Bell Centre on July 02, 2021 in Montreal, Quebec. The Lightning defeated the Canadiens 6-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The news of Montreal Canadiens Joel Edmundson going down with an undisclosed injury and putting him on the shelf for at least 2 weeks, is another blow to what can potentially become a shaky start to the regular season.

Edmundson now joins Shea Weber (foot and wrist – out for season), Carey Price (meniscus surgery – week to week), Mike Hoffman (lower body 3-4 weeks), Cole Caufield (upper body – day-to-day),  Paul Byron (hip – 2-3 months), Cedric Paquette (lower body – day-to-day) and Sami Niku (concussion – day-to-day) on the infirmary list.

The biggest issue with Edmundson going down is the gaping hole it leaves on the left side. Alexander Romanov has shown lots of positioning issues during Canadiens camp and Brett Kulak doesn’t seem to inspire much confidence towards his coach Dominique Ducharme, to a point where some are wondering if we’re not overvaluing his contribution.

Eric Engels, best known for his work as a writer for Sportsnet, was on 91.9 Sports in Montreal yesterday, the French all-sports radio channel, and claimed to have inside news that Marc Bergevin will be looking at claiming a defenceman on waivers between now and the beginning of the regular season. As teams are starting to trim down to their final rosters for the regular season starting less than a week from now, there might be some interesting names that can not just fill the void left by Edmundson, but also serve as depth in the event Romanov and/or Kulak don’t pan out.

Of course, never ignore the possibility of a trade either.

Kaiden Guhle is also still around working the left side of the blue line and leaving positive impressions on everyone in the Canadiens brass. Ducharme however has gone public in saying that he wants the 19 year old to play another year in the juniors, also giving him a chance to play for Team Canada at the upcoming World Junior Championship.

The injury list is going to be a narrative we will see often for the first few months of the NHL season. After an insanely condensed 56 game season last year, not to mention teams like the Canadiens having an extended playoff run, most teams will share their woes with the injury bug. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kevin Hayes, Nicklas Backstrom, Brock Boeser, Shea Theodore, Alex Tuch, Jack Hughes and Johnny Gaudreau are just a few of the long list of names of players that are dealing with injures, and that’s just the official list.

Acquiring Samuel Montembault via waivers means the Canadiens have zero confidence in either Cayden Primeau or Michael McNiven to back up Jake Allen to begin the season. Don’t expect a big name to be swiped up, but expect the offense to forecheck a little less aggressively to begin the season as we’ve seen that the defensive squad have been leaving their fair share of gaping holes in both the slot and the passing lanes.

We’re about to go back to an 82 game season, condensed by the fact that the NHL is also going to the Olympics this winter. So we can use all the help we can get.

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