*Photo from The Hockey Writers*
Trades are still coming through. The Washington Capitals have acquired D Joel Edmundson from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a 3rd and 7th round draft pick in 2024, according to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff. The trade has been confirmed by both teams.
The 2023-2024 season will be the final year of a 4 year, $14 million contract for Edmundson. He is due $3.5 million this season, which includes a $2 million signing bonus and also has a 10 team no trade list. Montreal is retaining 50 percent of Edmundson's cap hit as part of the trade.
Edmundson said of the trade that "This summer, I kind of had a feeling that something might go down just the way Montreal, the team was forming. They want to go young. They want to build something this year. Obviously, the draft passed. I thought something might have happened there. Then, I got the news early July 1 that I'm coming to Washington and me and my fiancée are very excited to get down there and get things going."
Last season was Edmundson's 3rd season with the Canadiens and his 8th in the NHL. He scored two goals and dished out 11 assists, averaging 19:34 of ice time over 61 regular season games, posting a -29 rating as well.
Edmundson is known for being an extremely physical defenseman from the left side. He registered 112 hits with 149 blocked shots last season, bringing his career total to 920 hits and 773 blocked shots, also forcing 86 takeaways in his career.
A former second round pick, Edmundson has played for 3 teams over 8 NHL seasons, playing for the Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, and Carolina Hurricanes. He has 28 goals and 76 assists, posting a +23 rating while averaging 18:42 of ice time in 477 regular season games. In the playoffs, Edmundson has 6 goals and 15 assists in 75 games.
Edmundson said of joining the Capitals that "Even just talking to the guys over the past couple of days on the team, I think this long summer is going to benefit the team in the long run. It gets everyone healthy, and everyone is eager to win again. Speaking to Oshie the day I got traded, he was like, 'You're coming into a good situation. We're going to be healthy and we're hungry.' That got me excited, so I think we're going to surprise a lot of teams this year. Obviously, we've got some good leaders in the dressing room and the young guys they can play, too, so I think it's a good combination."
Last season, the Capitals missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-2014 and they parted ways with Peter Laviolette, hiring Spencer Carbery as head coach to replace him.
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