The Montreal Canadiens have acquired goaltender Steve Mason and forward Joel Armia in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets.
As part of the trade, the Jets are also sending a seventh-round pick in 2019 and a fourth-round pick in 2020 to Montreal. In return, Montreal is sending AHL defenceman Simon Bourque to the Jets.
Mason, 30, is coming off a disappointing first season with the Jets, who signed him to a two-year contract last summer that carries a $4.1 million cap hit. Mason was expected to be the starter in Winnipeg last season, but a slow start gave Connor Hellebuyck an opportunity and he took it. By the end of the season, Hellebuyck was a Vezina Trophy finalist and Mason was left to be the backup.
Mason also missed some time with concussions, which limited him to only 13 games with the Jets. He posted a 5-6-1 record with a 3.24 goals-against average and .906 save percentage.
Shortly after the trade was announced, the Canadiens placed Mason on waivers for the purpose of a buyout.
Armia, 25, is a winger who was originally a first-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres and was acquired by Winnipeg as part of the Evander Kane trade. In 180 NHL games he has 26 goals and 58 points.
Bourque, 21, was a sixth-round pick by the Canadiens in 2015. In his first AHL season last year, Bourque had three assists in 46 games.
The Canadiens made a trade Saturday morning, but it did not involve captain Max Pacioretty.
Instead, the Canadiens acquired right-winger Joel Armia and goalie Steve Mason from the Winnipeg Jets — along with a seventh-round pick at the 2019 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in 2020 — in exchange for defenceman Simon Bourque.
There has been plenty of trade speculation involving Pacioretty, who is ranked No. 4 on the TSN Trade Bait List as he heads into the final year of his six-year, US$27-million contract with a $4.5-million salary-cap hit. Pacioretty is coming off a disappointing season in which he posted 17-20-37 totals after four straight years of at least 30 goals.
Armia, a 6-foot-3, 205-pounder, posted 12-17-29 totals in 79 games last season with the Jets. The 25-year-old was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round (16th overall) at the 2011 NHL Draft and has 26-32-58 totals in 180 career regular-season games. He is coming off a two-year, US$1.85-million contract and is a restricted free agent.
Mason, 30, had a 5-6-1 record last season with a 3.24 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. He has one season remaining on his two-year, US$8.2-million contract with a $4.1-million salary-cap hit. The Canadiens already have goalies Carey Price and Antti Niemi under contact, as well as Charlie Lindgren on a one-way deal with the AHL’s Laval Rocket. The Canadiens also have the salary-cap space to take Mason’s contract off the Jets’ hands and a buyout for the goalie is a possibility. CapFriendly.com has the Canadiens listed with $14.5 million in salary-cap space for next season heading into Sunday’s NHL free-agent sweepstakes.
The deadline to buy out a player is at 5 p.m. Saturday. CapFriendly.com has all the rules concerning NHL buyouts. The Jets are hoping to re-sign unrestricted free-agent centre Paul Stastny and needed to clear cap space in order to do that.
This looks like a good trade for the Canadiens, who didn’t really give up anything in exchange for a big forward who is a former first-round draft pick, along with two future draft picks.
Bourque, 21, had three assists in only 46 games last season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket, having problems making the lineup. The Canadiens selected the 6-foot-1, 195-pound defenceman in the sixth round (177th overall) at the 2015 NHL Draft.
Bourque was warming up at the Canadiens’ evaluation camp Saturday morning in Brossard when he was pulled off the ice and informed about the trade by GM Marc Bergevin.
“I was doing my warmup … I got pulled and they brought me to see Berg and he announced that I got traded,” said Bourque, who grew up in Longueuil on the South Shore of Montreal. “It’s an opportunity for me. As hockey players we’re always looking for those and for me to get an opportunity like this it’s a great honour. (Bergevin) said thank you and good luck, obviously, for the future.
“For me, it was a dream to be part of the Canadiens organization. I’m very proud I had the chance for a short period.”
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The Winnipeg Jets cleared salary cap space and the Montreal Canadiens added some assets in a trade Saturday ahead of the opening of NHL free agency.
The Jets sent veteran goalie Steve Mason and his $4.1-million US price tag for 2018-19, forward Joel Armia and a pair of draft picks to Montreal for defence prospect Simon Bourque.
Mason, 30, inked a two-year contract with Winnipeg on July 1, 2017, but was quickly overtaken by Connor Hellebuyck as the starter this season.
The Jets have a number of players to re-sign, and could also use some of the money saved in Saturday's deal to bring back pending unrestricted free-agent centre Paul Stastny.
The free-agent market opens Sunday at noon ET.
With goalies Carey Price, Antti Niemi and Charlie Lindgren all one one-way NHL contracts, the Canadiens reportedly placed Mason on waivers just hours after the trade for the purpose of buying him out.
Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin had at least $14 million in cap space heading into the weekend and has hinted he might be open to taking on salary in exchange for assets. As well as Mason and Armia, he picked up a seventh-round draft pick in 2019 and a fourth-rounder in 2020.
Mason went 5-6-1 with a 3.24 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in 13 games for the Jets in 2017-18. The Oakville, Ont., native is 205-183-64 in 476 career NHL games with Columbus, Philadelphia and Winnipeg.
A six-foot-three right-winger, Armia was drafted 16th overall in 2011 by Buffalo, but played only one game for the Sabres prior to being included in the blockbuster deal that saw Winnipeg ship Evander Kane out of town.
The 25-year-old Finn had career-highs in goals (12), assists (17) and points (29) in 79 games last season before adding a pair of goals in 13 playoff outings. He has 26 goals and 58 points in 180 career NHL games.
Bourque, 21, turned pro last season and had three assists in 46 games for the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound native of Longueuil, Que., was drafted in the sixth round in 2015. He inked a three-year entry-level contract in 2017 that pays $720,000 in the NHL and $67,500 in the minors.
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Mason, 30, was set to make $4.1 million next season, while Armia, 25, was a pending restricted free agent who made $925,000 and was due for a raise.
And that opens the door for the Jets to take a legitimate run at re-signing veteran centre Paul Stastny. It's no secret there is mutual interest from both parties, but finding a way to make it happen under the cap was always going to be a challenge. Suddenly that window of opportunity just got a whole lot bigger.
Goalie Steve Mason and forward Joel Armia were both dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, along with a 7th round pick in the 2019 draft and a 4th round pick in the 2020 draft. In exchange, the Jets get defenceman Simon Bourque while clearing more than $5 million off their books.
The Winnipeg Jets have cleared some much-needed salary cap space by swinging a big Saturday morning trade.
Goalie Steve Mason and forward Joel Armia were both dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, along with a 7th round pick in the 2019 draft and a 4th round pick in the 2020 draft. In exchange, the Jets get defenceman Simon Bourque while clearing more than $5 million off their books.
And that opens the door for the Jets to take a legitimate run at re-signing veteran centre Paul Stastny. It's no secret there is mutual interest from both parties, but finding a way to make it happen under the cap was always going to be a challenge. Suddenly that window of opportunity just got a whole lot bigger.
Mason, 30, was set to make $4.1 million next season, while Armia, 25, was a pending restricted free agent who made $925,000 and was due for a raise.
Montreal was clearly targeting Joel Armia. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)
Of course, moving Mason now means the Jets will be in the market come July 1 for a less-expensive free agent backup to Connor Hellebuyck. With Mason gone, the Jets are suddenly quite thin in terms of organizational depth in net, especially since they allowed goalie Jamie Phillips to move on earlier this week by not qualifying him, and are not expected to re-sign pending UFA Michael Hutchinson.
That means Eric Comrie and rookie Mikhail Berdin are suddenly No. 2 and No. 3 on the depth chart. For now, anyways.
Mason struggled to carve out a role last year with the Jets, suffering numerous injuries and appearing in just 13 games. He went 5-6-1 with a 3.24 GAA and .906 SV%. Armia is coming off a career year in terms of offence, scoring 12 goals and adding 17 assists in 79 regular-season games. He also had two goals in 13 playoff games. Winnipeg had acquired Armia in 2015 as part of the multi-player trade with Buffalo that sent Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian to the Sabres.
Montreal was clearly targeting Armia but had to agree to take on Mason's salary in order to get him. The draft picks thrown in by Winnipeg were meant to sweeten the pot. There are already reports out of Montreal that they don't plan to keep Mason for next season, but will now try to either trade him or buy out the remaining year on his contract.
Bourque, the player coming back to Winnipeg, is considered AHL depth. The 21-year-old left-shooting defenceman had three assists in 46 games with Montreal's farm team in Laval last season. That was his rookie campaign after several years in the QMJHL with Rimouski and Saint John. He was a 6th round pick, 177th overall, by Montreal in the 2015 draft.
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg
Simon Bourque is considered AHL depth. (Twitter)
