The Los Angeles Kings have signed former Stanley Cup champion, Joel Edmundson to a new contract. They signed the defenceman to a four year deal at $3.8 million per season.
Edmundson Signs with Kings
Edmundson played for two teams last season. He started with the Washington Capitals and played 44 games for them before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, a day before the deadline. This was the second time he’s been traded in his career. He played only nine games for the Leafs and finished with a plus-3 to his name with the Buds. Also, he featured in all seven playoff games in the first-round series against the Boston Bruins. In that series, Edmundson provided an assist in their Game 3 victory but finished the series with a minus-1. He finished with the third-most time on ice among Leafs defenceman averaging 18:40 a night. He only sat behind Jake McCabe and Morgan Rielly who both finished with more than 20 minutes a game.
Kings gets Stay-at-Home Defenceman
With this Edmundson contract, the Kings gets a defenceman who takes pride in his defensive game. He thrives in moments that require tough, physical, gritty hockey. That basically describes what playoff hockey is all about, so it’s no surprise that Edmundson has won the cup before. In fact, two seasons after he hoisted the cup, he featured in the Stanley Cup finals once again, this time as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in 2020-21. The Habs knocked out the Leafs in the process to that final, but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games. However, during that regular season, Edmundson played 55 of the 56 games in the shortened Covid season. Also, he finished with a team-best plus-28, which was good enough for third-best across the league. Edmundson’s contract at this time was a four-year deal at $3.50M AAV, signed by Marc Bergevin. It seems that he lived up to that deal.
The 31-year-old can still get the job done on the blueline as a border-line second pairing defenceman and certainly as a third pairing d-man. Edmundson will serve as a solid player for years to come.
Main Photo: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
