Joel Armia : expect to see the Canadiens negotiate to keep him

Dose
Crédit:

The Canadian is currently in a playoff race. It is three points away from a playoff spot.

Will the team manage to qualify? Will the team be #InTheMix until the end of the season? Will the team get reinforcements on the blue line (Kaiden Guhle) by the end of the season?

We’ll see.

But we can agree on one thing: even if Martin St-Louis would like to see his team make the playoffs now, he’s well aware that this summer, he’ll have more reinforcements in sight for the 2025-2026 season.

And I’m not just talking about Ivan Demidov: I’m talking about his GM who will be on the move.

It’s been a while since we understood that it’s in the summer of 2025 that the Canadian will take a step forward, as the moment has been targeted by management to take action to improve the team.

And that’s what Renaud Lavoie confirmed this morning on the airwaves of BPM Sports with the guys from the morning show.

But even if transactions like Dylan Cozens (not him specifically, of course, since he was traded to the Senators) are possible, we must not forget the small personnel movements.

They are important, too. And we can’t criticize a move for what it’s not: all signings can’t be an impact signing for a team.

All this to say that among the depth moves we might see in the coming months, there’s a potential signing of Joel Armia to keep him in town.

Renaud Lavoie, who was right in the negotiations for Evans, believes that we should expect to see Armia’s clan and the CH continue to negotiate for a potential contract extension.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be very expensive. Otherwise, goodbye.

Kent Hughes decided to keep the Finn in town, and we can imagine that he doesn’t want to lose him for nothing. Especially since his trio (with Jake Evans and Emil Heineman) is doing very well and making the coach happy.

Note, however, that we shouldn’t necessarily expect the same thing for Christian Dvorak, whose path to a new contract with the Canadian is more… difficult to see, let’s say.

No need to read between the lines to understand that with Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans being the only ones with a guaranteed spot at center next year (and considering that Ivan Demidov, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky will be in the top 6 in the long term), it’s a top center that the CH’s GM wants this summer.

In a hurry

– To note.

– Damn Brad.

– To follow.

– Mitch Marner situation: there’s a malaise. [TVAS]

– Good news.