Joel Armia’s name was swirling in rumors ahead of the trade deadline, but he ended up staying put, as the Montreal Canadiens opted to hold onto him. General manager Kent Hughes decided to stay the course and not move on from his expiring contracts, trusting the team to make a playoff push. It showed a significant belief in his group, and there’s no doubt trading Armia would’ve made the team worse. Sometimes, people undervalue depth in the NHL, but most of the time, they are the straw that stirs the drink.
The Canadiens have plenty of draft capital, and their prospect pool is one of the best in hockey. No team will reject more picks or prospects, but it becomes redundant at a certain point. There hasn’t been much success around the team recently, and another sale at the deadline would’ve been the fourth-straight year of a bad stretch run. The young players now get the chance to make a playoff push in one of the best markets in the league.
It’s also hard to underestimate the effect of the front office’s belief in the team. The truth is that the Canadiens earned 11 of 12 possible points after the Four Nations Break, showing that a playoff push isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. It won’t be the end of the world if they don’t end up in the postseason, though, which is why Hughes didn’t become a buyer at the deadline. However, he is giving this tight-knit group a shot.
The question now is what players the Canadiens will attempt to re-sign in the offseason. Plenty of young players are waiting in the wings, but you can’t get rid of all your veterans when trying to be a contender. Will Armia be a part of the Canadiens’ future plans? Let’s see why he should be, and why Montreal should hand him a new contract extension.
Joel Armia and Jake Evans form an exceptional penalty-killing tandem
Jake Evans was another player the Canadiens explored trading at the deadline. It didn’t come to fruition, as Evans signed a team-friendly four-year contract extension to stay in town. The agreement keeps a bottom-six center with the team and helps out their penalty kill. The problem is that Evans is just one-half of the tandem of him and Armia, and he might not be as effective without the Finland-born two-way forward.
The Canadiens have the sixth-best penalty kill in the league, which is astonishing, considering how bad their team defense has sometimes been. The team has faced some issues defending at 5-on-5, but their penalty kill has been impeccable. Another pending unrestricted free agent, David Savard, is another massive piece of that group. Armia and Evans’ penalty-killing success was one of the main reasons teams valued them at the deadline, and it’s something the front office has to consider moving forward.
Montreal has plenty of players in Laval who could play bottom-six minutes for the team. However, they won’t make the same impact on the special teams unit as Armia and Evans. You need to have great special teams units in order to be a Stanley Cup contender, and the Canadiens want to remain an elite penalty-killing team. It’s OK to want to squeeze in all the young forwards, but Hughes and head coach Martin St. Louis should always try to make room for Armia.
Ivan Demidov’s pending arrival next season will help the team’s powerplay. If they can move up those rankings while remaining a top-10 penalty killing squad, winning will be on the horizon for the league’s most successful franchise.
With Joel Armia, the Canadiens know what they are getting
It’s easy to sit here in March 2025 and say the Canadiens have some depth options in Laval. However, putting expectations on players without seeing them play in the NHL is always going to be risky business. Montreal wants to contend sooner rather than later, and it’d be a bad time for them to make some call-ups next season, only for those players to struggle out of the gates. Joel Armia gives the Canadiens something they need: reliability and consistency.
Armia’s point pace has been consistently between 25 and 35 points. He doesn’t have many seasons where he is a significant minus-player, which is an impressive feat considering the terrible rebuilding teams he has played on over the past few seasons in Montreal. Armia also stepped up for the Canadiens during the 2021 Stanley Cup Final run, so that experience is good to have on a rebuilding team. Montreal hasn’t been in the postseason since then, but it’s a layer of leadership the young players will need should they return.
Joel Armia might seem like a replaceable player, but the Canadiens’ front office shouldn’t underestimate the void he could leave if they do move on from him.
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