Joel Armia signed with the Montreal Canadiens in 2018 in a deal that saw the Habs take Steve Mason’s contract off the Winnipeg Jets’ hands. In return, the Habs received Armia and a couple of draft picks in what looked like a tip for services rendered.
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The Finn was coming off his second professional contract and had a cap hit of $925,000 annually. Marc Bergevin signed the former Buffalo Sabres first-round pick to a one-year pact, which doubled his cap hit.
The following Summer, he gave him a 2-year contract extension worth $2.6 M per. He finished that contract as the Canadiens reached the Stanley Cup final, with Armia scoring eight points in 21 games. A performance that convinced the former GM to sign him to a four-year deal with a $3.4 M annual average value.
In the first three years of that extension, no matter how many games he played, Armia only scored 14 points, and toward the end of the third year, he had become many fans’ whipping boy.
Last Season
The start of the last campaign was a stark wake-up call for the 30-year-old Pori native. After a good training camp from Jesse Ylonen, who would have had to clear waivers to be sent down to Laval, Armia found himself on waivers instead. The risk of him being claimed was much lower, and as expected, he cleared and reported to Laval.
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Instead of pouting about it, he rolled up his sleeves and gathered five points in four games with the AHL affiliate. As a result, the Canadiens called him up as soon as they needed reinforcements and he scored in his first game back. However, he went pointless in his next five games, making the Canadiens send him back down in mid-November.
He once again put on his working boots and gathered four points in as many games in Laval to earn his second and last call-up of the season, as that one stuck. Montreal was once again hit by numerous injuries, meaning there was room again for the winger.
In the end, he played 66 games with the Habs last season and scored 25 points, the third-highest point total of his career.
What to Expect
Armia is now entering the final season of the four-year extension Bergevin signed him to before being given his marching orders. This means he needs to deliver if he wants to earn a contract extension or another contract as a free agent next season.
Since the start of training camp, he’s been on a line with Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher with good results. When they hit the ice in Brossard, it looked like the line already had chemistry. Gallagher and Evans praised him and said they enjoy patrolling the ice alongside him.
Related: Canadiens: What to Expect From Jake Evans
Still, $3.4 M for a fourth-line winger is a lot of money, and young prospects are waiting in the wings to make the jump to the NHL. Speaking to the press earlier during camp, Patrik Laine said the big winger told him he loves Montreal and would like to stay in town forever.
If Armia truly wants that to happen, he will need to deliver on the ice this season and be willing to accept a pay cut and a short-term deal. When the Canadiens are ready to contend, I doubt Hughes has Armia penciled in as one of the team’s veteran leaders.
In short, though, we should expect Armia to fight for his NHL life, whether in Montreal or elsewhere in the league. It’s hard to pinpoint a point objective without knowing what kind of deployment he’ll enjoy.
Last season, because of all the injuries, he averaged 15:33 of ice time. Playing the fourth line doesn’t net you a lot of ice time. He should see a lot of penalty-killing time, but that’s not where one produces.
Even though this is a contract year for him, Armia’s performance will have to be evaluated on effort and dedication rather than by points. If he is as involved as he was last season, he will have had a good year.
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