At this stage, nothing is completely out of the realm of possibility with the Montreal Canadiens’ lineup for the upcoming season. Well, unless somebody tells you Lane Hutson, Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher will all be part of the opening night lineup of course, that would be impossible.
Is Joel Armia on the second line alongside Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine a possibility? Yes, there’s an argument to be made for it. After all, Armia is a former first round pick and when he’s on, he can show off some nice offensive skills. The problem is though, consistency seems to be hard to achieve for the Finn.
View the original article to see embedded media.
In his second year in Montreal, he put up 30 points but in the next three seasons, no matter how many games he played, he recorded 14 points (this is not the kind of consistency sought) which is what led to the Canadiens waiving him in order to assign him to Laval at the start of last season. The demotion seemed to shake him up and he immediately started producing in the AHL.
He was soon called up because of injuries and featured in 66 games with the Canadiens, producing 25 points in the process. If you expand that on 82 games, he produced at a 31-point per 82 game rhythm. That’s nothing to write home about but it’s not the main reason why he shouldn’t be riding shotgun with Dach and Laine.
The main reason being once the Canadiens are ready to contend, Armia will be long gone. At 31 years old and on an expiring contract, this is likely is last season with the team. If you believe making him play on the second line could increase his value on the market, I disagree.
Related: Canadiens: What to Expect From Josh Anderson
Armia has been in the league long enough for GMs to know what he brings and what he doesn’t bring. Besides, while Canadiens GM Kent Hughes has proven very good at maximizing assets’ value, that’s not all he’s trying to do and he’s said it himself. He’s trying to build a contender.
With that in mind, it would make more sense for a player who will likely be in Montreal for the long haul to start building chemistry with Dach, especially if he remains the Canadiens’ second line center, which for now at least seems to be the most likely scenario.
Either Alex Newhook or Joshua Roy would be better options in my opinion, with all due respect to Gelinas of course. Accumulating assets is just one part of the process and one that should not make the team forget the big picture. Getting the best value possible out of Armia when he’s dealt isn’t likely to be as worthy to the process as installing chemistry between the players who will be part of the window.
We’ll see how Martin St-Louis feels about the situation soon when training camp start and really, his is the only opinion that matters. Watch this space for all development at training camp.
Related
Canadiens: What to Expect From Martin St-Louis
Canadiens: What to Expect From Nick Suzuki
Canadiens: What to Expect From Cayden Primeau
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens’ page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
