The Montreal Canadiens sit last in the NHL standings and are sure to be selling some pieces of their roster ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
The deadline is just eight days away now, and the Canadiens still have plenty of work to do. So far, they have moved Tyler Toffoli, but they are sure to trade pending free agents like Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak and Chris Wideman since there is really no reason to keep them around only to have them leave as free agents in a couple months.
Pretty much every player on the roster will have his name thrown into the rumour mill before the deadline on March 21st, if it hasn’t already been there.
One name that appeared to be difficult to move, but is apparently in play is Joel Armia. The big Finnish winger played a solid depth role on the Canadiens last season as he partnered with Corey Perry and Eric Staal to form a heavy, physical fourth line that wore down opponents over the course of each series.
They didn’t score a ton, though whose fourth line does? Still, Armia’s five goals and eight points provided solid depth scoring for the Canadiens in the postseason.
Things haven’t gone so well for the 28 year old winger this season. He started the year on what promised to be a two-way line with Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher but it just didn’t work out. None of them scored.
Armia now has just two goals and seven points in 41 games played on the season. He is one of the few players that struggled under Dominique Ducharme to start the season, and has pretty much looked the same since Martin St. Louis took over.
That is why it was pretty surprising to hear from TSN Insider Darren Dreger that teams are calling the Canadiens to inquire about Joel Armia.
TSN Hockey Insider @DarrenDreger with @mckennaconor & I on #TSN690
— Shaun Starr (@ShaunStarr78) March 11, 2022
"I know you guys are gonna fall of your chair in a second but the Habs are getting calls on Armia!"
Teams gearing up for a playoff run could definitely benefit from having Armia on their roster and hoping he can play a similar role that he did for the Canadiens last season. He is a smart, defensive player who can get hot and find the back of the net from time to time. Though he isn’t extremely physical, he is a big winger who plays well along the boards, wins battles and uses his hands and creativity to set up plays in the offensive zone.
But he is in the first year of a four-year contract with a $3.4 million cap hit. Who can fit that in?
Let’s take a look at three teams that could be interested in acquiring Armia before the trade deadline.