The Montreal Canadiens made headlines when they announced that Nick Suzuki would be their new captain with Brendan Gallagher and Joel Edmundson as his alternates. While the news of Suzuki is front-page worthy seeing as he’s the youngest captain in team history, what’s also fascinating about the announcement is that it takes place as trade rumors surrounding Edmundson.
Montreal Hockey Now’s Jimmy Murphy has cited a report by TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie that the defenseman is garnering interest in the trade market as training camp approaches. Lavoie claims that there are plenty of teams inquiring about his status and he says, “I know there’s a lot of interest across the league for a defenceman like Edmundson.” Considering the organization is $10 million over the salary cap ceiling, if the Canadiens are able to send Edmundson’s $3.5 million off the books for the next two seasons, would they?
Consider first that Carey Price is likely to go on LTIR. That will alleviate most, if not all of the Canadiens’ cap concerns. Price is a $10.5 million contract and the Habs will wait until just before the season starts to officially make that move. There’s also the fact that the Canadiens feel like this might not be the right time to move Edmundson.
Lavoie states, “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.” In other words, if the Canadiens are going to trade their defenseman, it will be just ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline when the offers improve and Edmunson has proven he was able to bounce back from a less-than-ideal 2021-22 season.
So too, Montreal would like to give Suzuki a player that can be there and support him as he transitions into the role of captain. Plus, it doesn’t sound like Edmundson is all that interested in leaving. “Rebuilding, that was last year. We’re ready to take the next step,” he said. He seems to think the team will be better than insiders are giving them credit to be.
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