Report: Teams Calling Canadiens About Edmundson

Per Renaud Lavoie of TVA on Monday, Montreal Canadiens alternate captain and defenceman Joel Edmundson is garnering interest on the NHL trade market as teams gear up for training camp.

“I know there’s a lot of interest across the league for a defenceman like Edmundson,” Lavoie said on TVA Sports Monday. “I don’t think he’ll be traded now, but I can tell you that there are some pretty attractive offers. They can continue to become even more attractive in the coming months.”

The chances are slim to none that the Montreal Canadiens will trade defenceman Edmundson before the 2023 NHL trade deadline. The 6-foot-5, 229-pound, 29-year-old rearguard is entering the third season of a four-year, $14 million contract that carries a $3.5M AAV. On Monday, Joel Edmundson and veteran forward Brendan Gallagher were named alternate captains and 23-year-old centre Nick Suzuki was named the 31st and youngest captain in team history. Clearly Edmundson will be leaned on heavily to guide Suzuki and serve as a sounding board for him through the ups and downs of the season, so moving him now would make no sense for the team’s chemistry and leadership on and off the ice.

What’s surprising about Lavoie’s report about the NHL trade chatter on Edmundson is that the Canadiens defenceman is coming off a miserable 2021-22 season on and off the ice. After suffering a back injury on the first day of training camp last September and then losing his father to lung cancer in January, Edmundson didn’t make his 2021-22 season debut until March 12. Edmundson returned to score three goals and three assists in 24 games but surely NHL teams would like to see what he does with a fresh start here when the 2022-23 regular season kicks off for him and the Canadiens on Oct. 12 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

If Edmundson can come back, show he’s healthy and, as expected, play a key role on the Canadiens’ blue line, his NHL trade value will only increase and as Lavoie pointed out, the NHL trade offers for Edmundson will improve. When the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline rolls around in March, maybe the Canadiens will at least entertain the NHL trade interest on Edmundson. That will depend on the season the Canadiens have had, how their younger defencemen have progressed, and if the Canadiens and Edmundson have started to discuss an extension as he faces the final season of his contract in 2023-24.