Montreal Canadiens: Joel Edmundson going to have to step up in 2022-23

The Montreal Canadiens have changed up the roster a bit from what it looked like during the 2021-22 season. By way of the trade deadline and offseason changes, there’s a new crew getting ready to take the ice in 2022-23.

One of the things the Montreal Canadiens are going to rely on is improved performances out of their defence core. Joel Edmundson has been with the team for two years now and in his third season, he’s going to need to step things up.

It’s not that his performance has been horrible, but with a much thinner defence core, Edmundson needs to step it up. He signed a four-year, $14 million contract to join the team ahead of the 2020-21 season and is in the third year of that deal.

Edmundson is slated to earn $3.5 million annually through the 2023-24 season. He’s become a solid defender for the Habs, proving to be solid in the defensive zone. He’s got a 6-foot-4, 227-pound frame and he’s not afraid to use it to his advantage.

Montreal Canadiens defenceman Joel Edmundson needs to step up this season.

The way things stand he could very well end up on the team’s top pairing. David Savard is likely to be an anchor on the first pairing and Edmundson might jump up into that spot at times. The team is bestowing some faith in younger players to iron out their defence core.

For Edmundson, this means that he’ll be in the team’s top-four for the 2022-23 season. If he can prove to be a beneficial piece of the team’s defence core, things are going to go well. He’s coming off of a 2021-22 season where he averaged 19:35 time-on-ice.

He had 24 games played with three goals and three assists for six total points. It took him a long time to get back on the ice after a looming back injury continuously kept him off the ice to start the season, all the way until March.

If he can get back on the ice averaging around 20 minutes of ice time while being a shutdown defender. He’s an asset to the penalty kill and can be beneficial for the team keeping pressure off Jake Allen in the defensive zone.

Edmundson has a chance to bounce back stronger than ever. While he was able to get back on the ice 2021-22 near the end of the year, being back out there with a full season ahead of him offers a lot of promise.

I’d expect Edmundson to be a much bigger piece of the defence core throughout the 2022-23 season. He just needs to step it up and come back strong.