On Thursday evening, Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes announced the Montreal Canadiens had acquired Sean Monahan and a conditional 2025 first-round draft pick from the Calgary Flames for future considerations.
The Flames earlier in the day had locked up coveted free agent Nazem Kadri to a seven-year deal worth 49 million dollars and needed to make room for his cap space, and the move is essentially a salary cap dump.
Monahan had spent his entire career in Calgary and was their alternate captain since the 2015-16 season so far. He has 462 points ( 212 goals, 250 assists) in 656 NHL games and has won 50.5% of his faceoffs.
Scoring 30 goals in three seasons with the Flames, his best season was in 2018-19, when he finished the year with 34 goals and 48 assists for a total of 82 points in 78 games he played during the season and in the playoffs has 21 points ( 10 goals, 11 assists) in 30 games.
Monahan was drafted sixth overall in the 2013 NHL Draft and comes in at 6 ft 2 and 200 pounds.
Meeting the media after completing the deal, Hughes confirmed that Monahan’s salary wouldn’t be an issue as he announced Carey Price would start the year on LTIR and probably won’t play next season as the PRP shots to his knee are not going well.
Monahan had his worst season last year, playing only 65 games and finishing with eight goals and 15 assists before having season-ending surgery on his right and left hip. He is on track to start the season either in October or November.