Armia agrees to two-year contract with Canadiens

Joel Armia agreed to terms on a two-year, $5.2 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. It has an average annual value of $2.6 million.

The 26-year-old forward, who was a restricted free agent, avoided a salary arbitration hearing scheduled for July 20. He had an NHL career-high 13 goals (23 points) in 57 games with the Montreal Canadiens last season.
"I think our goal is really clear, to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs] first of all," Armia said Friday. "I think we were on the right path last year and we came up really close, so we just need to kind of follow that and do a little bit better."
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The Canadiens finished 44-30-8 last season, two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. It marked the second straight season Montreal did not qualify for the postseason.
Selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round (No. 16) of the 2011 NHL Draft, Armia has 81 points (39 goals, 42 assists) in 237 regular-season games with the Canadiens, Winnipeg Jets and Sabres and has scored two goals in 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
NHL.com correspondent Sean Farrell contributed to this report