Hockey

Joel Armia in talks to sign a new contract with the Canadiens
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Joel Armia in talks to sign a new contract with the Canadiens
Credit: Getty Images

Joel Armia isn't afraid to say it: he wants to stay in Montreal.

The Habs made the decision not to trade him as a rental and to keep him for the playoff race. His defensive importance and puck protection played in his favour, I imagine.

And on that subject, at his end-of-season press conference, Armia said he'd been talking to CH management about a new contract.

I have a feeling that Kent Hughes is going to treat Armia's case like Jake Evans': here's a contract that's take it or leave it, and we won't really go any higher than that.

Will Armia want to stay that long? Who knows.

If the CH does this with Armia and Dvorak, maybe the guys will naturally leave or stay. It depends on how greedy they are.

And in Armia's case, don't forget that he doesn't play center. That makes him less indispensable, let's say.

While we're on the subject of Armia, it's worth mentioning that in the playoffs (and clearly at the end of the season too), he was playing with a broken hand. This affected the velocity of his shots.

But still, like a warrior, he played.

Obviously, it's “less bad” for a player who doesn't play with finesse, but it still takes a brave guy to be able to play through it.

And there are plenty of brave guys in the room.


in brief

– Selke: the three finalists play in Florida.

– A broken foot for Victor Hedman?

– Jon Cooper is staying in Tampa Bay. His family is fine there, he'll be leading Canada to the Olympics later this year… and he's got to want to beat Matthew Tkachuk's Panthers in 2026. We'll see if he leaves in a year.

– Of note.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!