Montreal Canadiens Mock Trade Deadline: Joel Armia To Predators: Who Says No?

The Montreal Canadiens will be looking to sell a few more veterans before the trade deadline which is now just six days away.

We have already seen them deal Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets in a deal that gives them an additional first round pick in the upcoming NHL Draft. Monahan has looked pretty good for the Jets, scoring seven goals in 11 games with his new team.

The Canadiens are happy to add another early pick that could help them in the future and the contending Jets are glad to have a veteran center scoring goals for them right now. This is the type of trade that we see at the deadline, and we could see the Canadiens look to make a few more.

The next player dealt could very well be Joel Armia. He is a veteran winger that has been inconsistent in his career, which led to him starting this season in the American Hockey League with the Laval Rocket. He made the most of it though, scoring six goals and nine points in eight games before being called back up to the NHL.

Since then, he has played fairly well for the Canadiens, scoring eleven goals in 45 games which is a 20 goal pace over a full season. More impressive is his defensive game as he is a smart player who can face the toughest competition and is also a terrific penatly killer.

His cap hit of $3.4 million is a bit prohibitive, but teams with cap space, and a need for help on the penalty kill would be interested. One such team would be the Nashville Predators who are played some great hockey lately.

They have a fantastic goaltender, a great group of defenders and could be a tough out in a postseason series. They are in a wildcard spot in the western conference, but are well ahead of all teams outside the playoff picture. The Predators are likely to be cautious buyers ahead of the trade deadline and could fill a huge need on the penalty kill by adding Armia.

It wouldn't cost them a ton, and though they have an incredible amount of cap space, they would likely insist on the Canadiens retaining some money.

Let's say the Predators are interested in adding the bottom six forward who can score goals and help the team while shorthanded. How about Armia at 50% retained making him a $1.7 million cap hit through next season for a second round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. The Preds have three of them and could even make a condition where it is the latest of the three. Who says no to that?