Are candidates interested in Joel Armia?

The Montreal Canadiens have begun the process of selling off their veteran assets early this season ahead of the trade deadline.

They weren't big sellers last season, but Tyler Toffoli was shipped off early two years ago and followed the same script again this season. Sean Monahan was traded to the Winnipeg Jets with a first round pick and a conditional third round pick as well.

There are no players the Canadiens will necessarily trade before the trade deadline. Rebuilding teams are always looking to trade pending UFAs, but the Canadiens don't have any. Tanner Pearson is the only one, and his trade value isn't that high, especially when you consider that he has a cap hit of $3.25 million.

Canadiens veteran winger Joel Armia is a player that teams are looking to acquire, according to David Pagnotta of the fourth round. His $3.4 million cap hit through next season was considered too prohibitive for teams to really want the player. However, Panotta said teams would be interested if the Canadiens were willing to keep 50%.

Army is still an excellent defensive winger who can play a shutdown role on the third line and be a key component of the team's penalty kill unit. His nine points in 35 games makes him a bit overpaid, but if the Canadiens keep half and another team gets a great defensive winger for $1.7 million, there will be interest.

Army's name hasn't been around much in the trade rumor market. so it's interesting to see a hockey insider add him to their list of potential trade candidates. I think the Canadiens are expecting too much, but if a team that's good but struggles on the penalty kill wants to improve an important part of their game, Army can certainly help.