Montreal Canadiens Have Reportedly Been Trying to Trade a Player for Three Years, Says Insider
The Montreal Canadiens have made some huge moves in recent times, but according to an insider, one player they simply can't move is Joel Armia.
Ahead of the 2021/22 campaign, Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens handed Joel Armia a new three-year deal, with a cap hit of $3.4 million annually being a relatively modest sum for the veteran forward.
However, the team have been relatively underwhelmed with his performances, with point totals of 14, 14 and 25 in those three years thus far, although his start to 2024/25 has been much better, posting 6 points in 17 games to date.
In fact, he has been featured regularly in trade speculation over that time, with insider Pierre McGuire now confirming that the team have actively tried to move him since the beginning of that contract.
"They've been trying to trade Joel Armia for a long time I can tell you right now. I was working for a team where they offered Joel Armia to us and that was 3 years ago"
While he has been relegated to the Canadiens fourth line for much of that time, this must be very disappointing to hear for Armia, as he believed he was signing on to the start of something special in Montreal, only for his playing time and the success of the team to continually depreciate in that stretch.
At 31-years of age, it's clear that Armia will never be a major contributor at the NHL level, but if the team can retain some of his salary, they may find a team willing to take him on this season.
Ultimately though, the deal looks very bad in hindsight for Kent Hughes and the organization, and while they didn't burn much money on this deal, it's safe to say that both sides have been disappointed with how this has played out.
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