The Montreal Canadiens have traded Joel Edmundson. The veteran defenseman is on his way to the Washington Capitals.
The Canadiens will receive third and seventh round picks in exchange for Edmundson. The big 6’5″ and 221 pound left shooting defender was certainly on the trade market last season, but back problems lingered throughout the season and there was no one willing to take him on with his injury history.
Full trade, per sources:
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 1, 2023
To #AllCaps: D Joel Edmundson
To #GoHabsGo: 3rd Rd Pick, 7th Rd Pick@DailyFaceoff
Edmundson was great for the Canadiens in the 2021 postseason playing a physical style and eating up minutes against the other teams best players. Playoff hockey requires some physicality and size and Edmundson sure brings that to the Capitals.
The Canadiens simply have too many NHL defensemen on their roster and need to move someone out. With the emergence of Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and Arber Xhekaj all showing they were ready for the NHL last season, and Michael Matheson playing so well, the team just had too many left shooting defenders and had to move out someone.
Edmundson is entering the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $3.5 million. The Canadiens have retained 50% of his contract, so the Capitals are essentially adding a top four defender at a rate of $1.75 million for one season.
Montreal retaining 50 per cent on Edmundson
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 1, 2023
In a market where good players are being traded for next to nothing, this is a good return for the Canadiens. Taylor Hall was dealt for a couple of low level prospects, Ryan Johansen was traded for nothing at all and Kevin Hayes was traded for a 6th round pick.
With Edmundson’s cap hit and injury history, it would not have been surprising if other teams were too wary and did not offer anything for him at this time. If he were magically fully healthy going into next season we could expect a bigger return, but to get a third round pick for a player who may miss half the season with back problems again is a good deal for the Canadiens.
The Canadiens are expected to be pretty quiet today as free agency opens, but this is a tidy piece of work to move out a veteran that has been passed over by younger players in the lineup.
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