Last season with the St. Louis Blues, Joel Edmundson blocked 106 shots and had 128 hits. Edmundson’s physicality is a welcoming presence to the Carolina Hurricanes blueline.
Joel Edmundson was acquired by the Carolina Hurricanes in a trade that sent Justin Faulk to the St. Louis Blues. Many wondered if the trade was a good one. After all, Faulk was an all-star defender. Edmundson on the other hand was a Stanley Cup Champion. In the postseason for last years Stanley Cup winning Blues, he blocked 36 shots and 42 hits. He was here fora reason.
Edmundson is not one to shy away from physicality, the 6’4 215 pound has no need take a step back. His size will not let him. Even when a blocked shot caused him to break his right forearm in February of 2018. This still did not stop him playing the game. Edmundson understands that an injury can occur from a shot, it is just part his game.
In the beginning of this young Carolina Hurricanes season, Joel Edmundson has 17 blocked shots and 15 hits. He is currently has the most blocked shots on the team and is 7th overall in the league. He also leads the team in hits and is tied for 14th overall in the league. For a man with no points to his name he is still a huge contributing factor to this team.
Looking back to last postseason for the Hurricanes, his play would be most welcome against the Boston Bruins. Speaking of that Boston team, Edmundson’s physical play helped St. Louis Blues beat Boston game seven to win a Stanley Cup. Now he is attempting to do the same for the Carolina Hurricanes.
It seems to be more than working. The defense is now able to capitalize more and more on the team’s ability to hog the puck. Not only is it turning into this defense able to control leads and disallow teams to come back in the final frames of the games but also into the whole team’s ability to keep the puck away from their own net when they need to come back themselves.
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Outside of a few games, the Carolina Hurricanes defense been a force. In Carolina’s 5-2 win over the New York Islanders, the Islanders had only two shots on goal during the third period. On this same note, the Carolina Hurricanes held the Tampa Bay Lightning to two shots on goal in the second period and overtime in their 4-3 comeback win.
What does this mean for the Hurricanes? Besides bruises on players from blocked shots, opposing teams players taking more penalties out of frustration. While Edmundson might not have the same scoring flare as Dougie Hamilton, his willingness to block shots and make the physical play is an welcoming addition to the Hurricanes roster and a balancing factor for this incredible defense.