The Montreal Canadiens signed Sean Monahan to add some depth down the middle of their lineup yesterday. They are gearing up for the NHL Draft in a week and will have some tough decisions to make with the 5th and 31st overall picks.
In between signings and draft picks, they are reportedly looking to make a deal. The rebuilding club has spent the past two seasons moving out veterans for draft picks and prospects and are apparently trying to continue that trend.
According to The Fourth Period, the Canadiens have put defenseman Joel Edmundson and winger Mike Hoffman in play and are in search of a trade partner.
Edmundson is heading into the final year of his contract with a $3.5 million cap hit. The 6’5″ and 221 pound left defensemen has showed value in previous postseasons and with the Vegas Golden Knights winning the Stanley Cup with a hulking group of defenders on the blue line, Edmundson could have plenty of value on the trade market.
The biggest question for Edmundson is his health. He missed a significant portion of the 2021-22 season and was also out for 21 games last season, mostly dealing with back issues. That could be a red flag for a team looking to acquire him, but he is just 29 years old so it is not like he is over the hill. With the Canadiens landing a huge haul for Ben Chiarot just over a year ago, they could be looking for a late first round pick for Edmundson.
Hoffman is a scoring winger who hasn’t played quite as well as we hoped when he signed in Montreal, but also hasn’t been quite as bad as many Habs fans seem to think. He has not been able to help the power play like we hoped, but he does have consecutive seasons of 67 games played with 34 and 35 points.
That’s a 42 point pace which is nothing to sneeze at. He isn’t very good defensively, and his cap hit of $4.5 million is a bit rich, even with just one year left on the deal. The Canadiens are eligible to retain half, (and why wouldn’t they?) and then they have a 40 point player with a $2.25 million cap hit on the trade block.
I still wouldn’t expect a huge return for Hoffman, but is it that crazy that a good team wants to add a scoring winger and offers up a mid-round pick in the upcoming draft to take on Hoffman at half price?
Maybe a deal is more likely after free agency, but have you looked at the upcoming UFA list? There are seven wingers who could be free agents that scored more than 40 points last season. Teams will be looking to add scoring in other ways. No one expects Hoffman to come in and be a top line player, but as a third line winger on a deep team he could fit in well.
With the Canadiens rebuilding and both of these players veterans on contracts with one year remaining, there really is no surprise that they are on the trade block. Hopefully the Canadiens can get a good return for Edmundson and a little something for Hoffman as well.
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