Sean Monahan in Montreal: a good deal for both teams

Yesterday, Brad Treliving, GM of the Flames, celebrated his birthday by giving himself a gift: he signed Nazem Kadri. The free agent, whom many people associate with the Islanders, accepted $49 million over seven years to play in Alberta.

In the end, the GM may have lost two 100-point scoring Americans (Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk), but he managed to (in particular) get his hands on two excellent Canadian players (Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri) for the long haul. and have at least a year of MacKenzie Weegar.

To add the final piece to his puzzle yesterday, Treliving was forced to dump salaries through Sean Monahan and attach a first-round pick to convince CH. That’s what the club had to do to win right now and I don’t think the discontent in Calgary is out of control.

And that’s good for them.

On the other hand, in Montreal, Kent Hughes is not in the same position as his Alberta counterpart. The CEO of CH knows that his club will fight more for Connor Bedard than for anything else and acted accordingly.

So the two leaders were good dance partners on that.

What you should know is that the Canadian thinks in the long term and that the short term is not necessarily important. This is why the Canadian can agree to go for a Monahan of $6.375 million (although it has not been worth that amount for a few years) for a year since the carrot (the first option that is obtained with the player) is more important than the batting (center salary) for the club.

Think about it: Whether Monahan gets to start the season or not, if he’s a good player before the trade deadline, CH management could withhold 50% of his salary and send him elsewhere as a rental player. .

Getting a first pick to accept a one-year contract in a lost year and (potentially) getting a draft pick next March if he has a good season is exactly the definition of doing asset Managementor to properly manage your payroll.

Subsequently, it will also correspond to the GM to properly manage the conditions of the first option obtained in order to have the best possible profitability.

But that’s a good problem to have in the future, isn’t it?

Keep in mind that it is to settle all the details of the transaction that the official announcement took time to arrive from the Canadian. It’s really complex as a transaction, we’ll tell each other.

It is due to the injury of Carey Price, who should not play this year, that the Canadian’s leaders were able to add salary like this. This may not have been done before as the goalie situation changes from day to day.

the moment So it was good to add a first choice in Montreal. And such an asset, can be traded by 2025, don’t forget…

In terms of hockey as such, Monahan is not a bad player. In the past he has been injured often (he had surgery on both hips for two years), but now he is motivated by the idea of ​​starting over.

He is not 100% yet, but he will do his best to become the player he was.

No matter what angle is chosen to analyze Monahan’s arrival, one fact remains.

The CH gets its hands on a guy who is only 27 years old who has scored more than 20 goals in 7 of his 9 seasons in the NHL.

Healthy and confident (CC Martin St-Louis 😀), maybe 🔥.

—Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) August 19, 2022

Whoever is at the end of the contract will also have things to prove and the CH, which could exchange him, could also decide to extend his stay in the city. He skates a couple of times a week with the goal of being able to start the season at the same time as everyone else.

And you’ll want to make a difference in Montreal.

Maybe he could, if he does well and comes back healthy, take the pressure off a Nick Suzuki (as Dany Dubé believes) or the center line in general, who knows?

I wouldn’t necessarily wear the shirt, but it’s an (another) interesting bet from a club that can and should allow that kind of bet. With Michael Matheson and Kirby Dach, the CH will seek upside down

He’s also a player the Canadian’s GM has been targeting for a while since discussions began over the summer before rising to prominence this week.

Kent Hughes, who at the moment has nothing that is about to materialize, therefore persevered in the file.

Due to the moment of the news of Price (who releases money en masse) and because the Canadian builds for the future, he chose not to pay a first option to add a contract to Kevin Fiala, but to receive a first option to receive a guy who had a value negative since the club works in the long term, not in the short term.

This is how Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton want to rebuild the club.

How long will this transition last? I don’t know. It’s hard to say, but one thing is certain: they don’t do things by halves these days. the club is all inside in the future.

I have a feeling that the day it goes up, it will also be done quickly. Kind of like the Rangers, like.

A lot of

– The CH is still arguing with his RFA, Cayden Primeau and Kirby Dach.

– Great show by colleague Max Truman at 11 am on the radio!

– That’s my kind of humor.

– Shame.

– Big win for the Blue Jays yesterday.