Confirmed Signing with Link: [MTL] Joel Edmundson signs with the Canadiens (4 years, $3.5M AAV)

[Burke the Legend]

Really surprised at some comments on here, not as surprised by the analytics crowd on twitter, but Edmundson is a great defenseman. Calling him a replacement level player is a joke. The guy is as solid as they come. I've watched him since he broke into the league. He's a very valuable #4/5 guy. I wonder how many people here have actually watched him and didn't just go immediately to EliteProspects to check his point totals after seeing this deal.

Wondering what's your opinion of this article?

An in-depth look at what Joel Edmundson can bring to the Canadiens

I thought it was an interesting analysis on his relative ineffectiveness in Carolina from being forced into a man to man coverage system that was new to him and difficult to learn compared to the more standard zone defence.

 

[Kuznetsnow]

Good signing. The Chaykas will hate it but he'll do well in their system with Petry or one of the young PMDs. Montreal putting themselves in a position to sneak in deep Dallas style

 

[Burke the Legend]

I don’t hate this but I don’t love it for Montreal either. I feel like with the cap staying flat they could have used their cap space to get some nice assets like they did with Mason/Armia from Winnipeg.

Becomes trickier for them to add scoring up front as well. Edmunson seems a little redundant and personally I don’t feel he’s a significant upgrade on Kulak. Not a signing that’s going to hurt them either though

Kulak had a brutal regular season. Yes he stepped up for playoffs but he hasn't shown he can play difficult minutes consistently. It would not have been ok to go into next season with Kulak in the top 4.

 

[Captain97]

According to the interview live on tsn690 right now the plan right now is for him to start with Petry.

 

[OldCraig71]

I wish people would understand that Edmundson's advanced stats are not good because he played extremely hard minutes. He started in the d-zone more than any other Carolina dman, including Slavin, and did a TON of defensive heavy lifting.

That says a lot about what the coaching staff thought about his ability as a player. It might have been a case of a log jam in Carolina and nothing more.

 

[Treb]

Can he play RD... thought I seen someone say he played with Slavin at times? My hunch tells me this might be a move to have someone to play with the Rookie Romanov on the last pairing.

He can, but:

 

[Sugi21]

Bergies motto “you can never have enough defensemen”!

 

[Habs Halifax]

He can, but:

Of course. That's what they told Chiarot and he started bottom pairing and moved up. They told that to Alzner too

 

[Jets]

Reminds me of Jeff Finger. Even got the exact same deal.

 

[montreal]

Your determined to keep mete in there ?

I actually don't make the roster. If Mete's not traded he's going to play.

Dmen were never the problem with Habs PP. Weber has been on some good PPs over the years. Get is a sniper, let Suzuki develop a bit more (his patience will be key) and the PP should improve quite a bit. Without that sniper though the whole thing falls apart regardless.

They certainly are part of the problem, they need a PP QB.

If you're a Montreal Canadiens fan.

How does seeing a top four defence of Weber, Petry, Chiarot, and Edmundson excite you?

Do you really think that's the top four that should be in front of Price to make a Stanley Cup run?

Or are you just accepting of whatever Bergevin throws at you?

as opposed to what protesting at the Bell center because of how MB stinks and Molson is just a rich fanboy that named himself president.

They were the 24th ranked team this year, no one should be talking about a cup run unless it's MB tell Molson any shit he wants to hear to keep his job.

Personally I don't give a f***. I don't care what the Habs do, what MB does, just don't trade Suzuki, Kotka, Norlinder, Caufield, Romanov, Primeau, other top prospects and top picks. MB can't be the GM forever so I hope for the future, I don't even bother watching them this year until the covid invitational.

 

[glenbuis]

I’m predicting mete and a 2021 4th for a 2022 2nd . He could partner up with Subban .

 

[Rorschach]

I wonder why Habs went so hard after him. For such a whatever player, seems a little weird. You'd think a similar type of player would've been available at some point for cheaper. And it's not like the Habs needed another weak puck moving and play making defender anyway. It's probably not going to be quite another Alzner but still, I'm not sure if this is the best use of money.

I know the Kings were after him.

 

[Crosscrease14]

It’s not a great signing but Edmondson is nowhere near as bad as recent stats make him out to be, he’s easily an NHL level third pairing dman.

I do enjoy how multiple posters who have never seen him play just link to random tweets with charts and stats as if they know anything about player evaluation.

He's fine as a third pairing D for sure but why spend 3.5 to solidify that when there will be good NHL defenseman looking for contracts and half the teams in the league are cutting spending. There's going to be some decent players available for cheap.

Montreal also gave up a 5th rounder for the privilege of overpaying him for 4 years. Just head scratching..

I get they have a ton of picks and cap space but they just blew a ton of it on a backup and a third pairing D. They really could've made some shrewd moves had they waited imo.

 

[Discipline Daddy]

Honestly I thought Ed was going to get overpaid by more. $3.5M is market, or a hair above market for a #5. 4 years? Not terrible. I think Ed is better than Jeff Finger LOL. He is a good player to have in the room. He is inconsistent, but that's what makes him a bottom pairing defender. He will occasionally look like a #2 out there, but then the next game you'll wish you scratched him. The biggest thing are the occasional surprise mistakes he makes near the crease, usually in terms of pursuing one guy and leaving another open. He doesn't read the play incredibly well. He is decent positionally but not very fast. I think Montreal will like him, and I don't think you will regret it, unless this prevents you from re-signing someone else.

 

[Intangir]

Reminds me of Jeff Finger. Even got the exact same deal.

Sure, it's a perfectly fitting comparison.

If you forget about the fact that they play nothing alike, that Edmunson has 8 times the track record when signing this deal compared to Finger's career before signing with Toronto, that we didn't mistake Finger for Kurt Sauer as we gave him a contract, and that Ed is just plain better, though admittedly it isn't such a high benchmark to clear.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

This is what we in the industry call "not good".

 

[North Cole]

I would have expected this contract in a normal year, but seeing this contract handed out with the flat cap was a little surprising.

I feel like this sentiment will be echoed a lot in the coming weeks. I saw a similar statement in the Brodin thread. Not every team is going to run 10m under the cap, I feel like the flat cap might be a little overblown from what we've seen of contracts so far. At the end of the day, owners still have escrow to lean on.

 

[Legionnaire]

I know the Kings were after him.

Oh, man. That's too bad. He would have been a great add. The guy blocks a ton of shots.

...which should help Price out.

 

[Rorschach]

Oh, man. That's too bad. He would have been a great add. The guy blocks a ton of shots.

...which should help Price out.

We should have a plan B-Z but he would have been a good plan A. After all, it only cost Montreal a low pick to get the negotiating rights.

 

[Cogburn]

Yeah, that looks about right. Good on the Canadiens.

 

[glenbuis]

This is what we in the industry call "not good".

Well he had more points than mete and kulak combined and brings a lot more physicality and size . Upgrade at the 4-5 position as most in the industry call it .

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Really surprised at some comments on here, not as surprised by the analytics crowd on twitter, but Edmundson is a great defenseman. Calling him a replacement level player is a joke. The guy is as solid as they come. I've watched him since he broke into the league. He's a very valuable #4/5 guy. I wonder how many people here have actually watched him and didn't just go immediately to EliteProspects to check his point totals after seeing this deal.





Curious to me that you feel entitled to comment on this deal when you've clearly never watched Edmundson play.



The latter.

He's not a "great" defenseman. A heart and soul guy who doesn't put up a lot of points and is a bit erratic but can be useful. Do you want him in your top four? More specifically, do you want him as the safety valve for a guy like Petry? Not so sure.....

 

[KingPuckChoo]

can anyone quickly confirm if MTL has the most expensive back end in the league? Meaning D/G?
i'm counting them @ $42.5m just on D and G... that has to be #1 in the league no?

 

[Stephen]

He's not a "great" defenseman. A heart and soul guy who doesn't put up a lot of points and is a bit erratic but can be useful. Do you want him in your top four? More specifically, do you want him as the safety valve for a guy like Petry? Not so sure.....

Not sure why Petry would be needing a safety valve.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

It seems as though the haters who ridiculed the Chiarot signing are back! lol