Joel Edmundson reportedly wants to re-sign with the Canadiens, rather than being traded

It's safe to say that Montreal's season is not salvageable, so general manager Kent Hughes will turn his attention to selling his pending unrestricted free agents leading up to the trade deadline on March 3rd.

One of the names that has been in the rumour mill over the last month is defenceman Joel Edmundson, with the Edmonton Oilers among the teams that have shown interest in the 2019 Stanley Cup champion.

Edmundson expressed to Marc Antoine Godin of The Athletic that he would like to remain with the Canadiens and re-sign before July 1st and that the lines of communication between his camp and Kent Hughes remain open.

The 29-year-old dealt with injury issues during the 2021-22 season, only appearing in 24 games, but this season, he's played in 30 of Montreal's 40 games. In those 30 games, Edmundson has five points (one goal, four assists), 37 penalty minutes, is a minus-16 and has averaged 20:10 TOI.

On one hand, Edmundson would be a good piece to keep around to help mentor the young blue liners on the Canadiens, including Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj and Jordan Harris. But on the other hand, trading Edmundson at the deadline likely would fetch the Canadiens a pretty big return, possibly including a first-round pick. In recent years, rental defencemen have gone for a high price as in 2021, David Savard and in 2022, Ben Chiarot, both were traded for first-round picks.

Should the Canadiens trade Joel Edmundson or re-sign him? Let us know what you think in the poll below!

Source: Marc Antoine Godin - The Athletic

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