Canadiens And Wild Complete Trade

The Montreal Canadiens have acquired Andrew Hammond from the Minnesota Wild for Brandon Baddock. 

Although this is a small trade on paper, it was an important one for the Canadiens to make. Samuel Montembeault has been playing through a wrist injury, while Carey Price, Jake Allen, and Michael McNiven are all sidelined. Thus, they were in desperate need of a goaltender, and now they have one in Hammond.

Thread: Habs are in a jam they’re trying to solve. Sam Montembeault isn’t at 💯 and he might even still require wrist surgery. He’s grinding right now. Jake Allen and Michael McNiven are hurt, and no other goalie in the org has an NHL contract. 1/

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 12, 2022

Due to all of this, Hammond is expected to join the Canadiens' NHL roster from here. The 34-year-old should get his first taste of NHL action since the 2017-18 campaign. In 11 games with the Iowa Wild this season, he sported a 6-2-3 record, .908 save percentage, and 2.44 goals-against average. 

Hammond is remembered most for his ridiculous run during the 2014-15 campaign. During that season, he had a 20-1-2 record, 1.79 goals-against average, and a .941 save percentage. He was never able to replicate that kind of elite goaltending again and has been in the AHL for years now. Yet, the Hamburglar is back, and not too many people would have seen this coming!

As for Baddock, he is an AHL enforcer who is expected to stay with the Iowa Wild. In 227 career AHL games, he has 17 goals, 26 assists, and a ridiculous 518 penalty minutes. Needless to say, he will make Iowa tougher to play against. 

Photo Credit: © Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports