No, Montreal Canadiens forward Joel Armia is not going to win the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. To his credit, members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PWHA) did select him as the team’s candidate for the 2023-24 award due to how he has admirably re-established himself as an everyday NHLer after a demotion to start the regular season.
That’s obviously the crib-notes version. Short story longer, he’s scored a far-from-insignificant 16 goals, which both match a career-high (2019-20) and rank third on the team. He’s effectively gone from a statistical afterthought to tied with talk-of-the-town Juraj Slafkovsky in goals scored. If Slafkovsky has impressed with the leaps and bounds by which he’s grown, Armia has to have too, just by sheer logic.
Granted, Slafkovsky’s ceiling is much higher. He’s also flirting with 50 points, which would be huge accomplishment for just about any sophomore (44 points in 75 games). Armia would have to go on a huge hot streak just to get to 30, with only 22 points so far (albeit in just 59 games, due to his aforementioned American Hockey League detour). Of course, in apparent response to being named one of the top Canadiens most needing a strong end to the season, he’s scored five goals and six points in his last five games.
So, it is possible Armia gets there. Keep in mind though, this stretch comes after he went scoreless in nine games. And he’s only hit 30 points once before in his career (2019-20). So, any notion Armia is playing the best hockey of his career is slightly disingenuous, as would any hypothetical suggestion that he’s suddenly become critical to the team’s future as a soon-to-be 31-year-old entering the last year of his contract. Just like he unfortunately won’t win the Masterton, he won’t get re-signed.
Armia vs. Drouin
Take a short look at the stiff competition Armia’s facing. For just a few examples, he’s up against ex-Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin, who took a paycut to join the Colorado Avalanche on a one-year deal. After having fallen well short of reaching stardom as a member of the Habs, he’s in a good position to hit new a career high in points (53) with 18 goals and 34 assists in 74 games so far. Playing with one of the best players in the world in Nathan MacKinnon may help, but he’s undeniably seized this opportunity to get his career back on track. Power to him.
Related: Canadiens, Drouin Had Good Reason to Walk Away from Each Other
Meanwhile, like Drouin who missed the Canadiens’ 2021 Stanley Cup Final run, Calgary Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington, has struggled with his own mental health issues. That kept him out of action all of 2022-23. Finally, Minnesota Wild forward Marco Rossi became a full-time NHLer this season after having suffered through long-term COVID side effects, including myocarditis.
In terms of recent Canadiens to win it, Carey Price (2022) returned late his last season before “retiring” after battling substance abuse and recurring knee issues (which resulted in surgery). Max Pacioretty (2012) had his neck broken on a hit from Boston Bruin Zdeno Chara only to play a full schedule the next season. Saku Koivu (2002) literally came back from cancer. It all kind of puts Armia’s admittedly admirable resurgence in perspective though, don’t it?
Armia Gets His NHL Career Back on Track
To be fair, making this a competition in who has suffered the most, well, isn’t to the individuals themselves. However, there just isn’t a better way to hand out the award, and, put as gently as possible, Armia’s story of a veteran player who gets demoted due to lack of roster space only to get another shot as injuries on the team pile up isn’t unique.
That having been said, there’s no taking away from Armia seizing his own opportunity. This latest strong stretch should put him in consideration to help form the team’s top 12 forwards out of training camp next season, maybe pushing a centre of all things in Christian Dvorak out of the mix via an offseason trade. Maybe Armia gets traded instead, who knows? However, the mere fact that’s become a possibility, when just a year ago, his contract was among the worst on the team, is at least a small testament to the degree to which he’s improved.
Of course, the fact Armia will only have a year left under contract is a factor too. It’s simply easier to trade an underperforming forward under those circumstances. However, Armia’s exceeding expectations in the here and now, even for a penalty-kill specialist deployed in the top six. Maybe he hasn’t earned the Masterton, but he’s at least earned another chance. To say the quiet part out loud, that’s probably worth a great deal more.