The Montreal Canadiens and general manager (GM) Kent Hughes followed through with a move that was expected by nearly everyone. He traded Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets in return for a first-round pick and a conditional pick.
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This trade, despite its excellent value, leaves a massive hole in the Canadiens lineup. Monahan’s role on the team allowed Montreal to remain competitive and will hurt the club in the short term. The depth at center has taken a hit, the questions they now face is how does they adjust the roster, and how does this help in the long run?
Canadiens Masterful Asset Management
Reports were that there was a deal in place when Hughes re-signed Monahan to a team-friendly, one-year, $1.985 million deal last offseason to trade the center to a contender by the deadline. Hughes again proved to be a man of his word and followed through.
Montreal got not one but two first-round picks just by taking on Monahan’s contract and then having the patience to stick with him until he could have a season without injury to offload him. This is a masterful asset management by the Canadiens’ GM. As this is a rebuild, it isn’t a surprise to see the veteran, who is on an expiring contract get traded.
If past actions are predictors of future decisions, this will happen. Over each of the last two drafts, Hughes has traded first-round picks to bring in talented former first-rounders Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. Each was young, inexpensive cap-wise, on the upswing of their development, and now, with the Jets first added to his draft arsenal, Hughes has re-armed to do it again.
Canadiens Depth Emptied Out
The depth at center for Montreal is now so shallow that it’s a puddle. After Nick Suzuki, the only proven NHL center is Jake Evans, who is ideally a fourth-line center. This likely means Suzuki will be playing up to 25 minutes per game, as he had last season when Montreal faced this issue. It’s clear from the comments made by Hughes following the trade that there is no plan to find a replacement via trade this season.
“We have reasons to be optimistic that Alex Newhook will be back soon, so that gave us a certain amount of confidence to make the trade now rather than wait. We’ve seen a bit of Mitchell Stephens, and then Lucas Condotta, for six weeks, and I think we’re going to continue…
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