Montreal Canadiens Acquire Yet Another First Round Draft Pick and Sean Monahan

The Montreal Canadiens offseason may have unofficially ended last night when they awoke Habs fans (myself included) from a lengthy summer slumber. We haven’t heard much from the Habs since the NHL Draft really, as they have been fairly quiet in free agency.

However, the team was able to acquire a first round pick from the Calgary Flames yesterday. All they had to do was also take on the final year of Sean Monahan’s contract.

That was literally the entire trade, except trying to figure out when the Canadiens will get that first round pick is difficult. There are an incredible number of conditions attached to the deal that could see the Canadiens land that first round pick as soon as the 2024 NHL Draft, or possibly as late as the 2026 NHL Draft.

Long story short, the Canadiens acquired Sean Monahan and a first round pick from the Flames for “future considerations” which is code in the NHL trade world for absolutely nothing.

The Canadiens have the option of taking the Flames pick in 2024 if it is 20th overall or later in that first round. If not, the Canadiens will get either the Flames 1st round pick in 2025 or the Panthers, which could be heading to Calgary. The final detail says that if the Flames pick is 1st overall in 2025, they will give the Canadiens their 2026 1st round pick instead.

So, I guess best case scenario is the Flames are forced to give up the second overall pick in 2025 or the first overall pick in 2026. Hardly seems likely since their team is built to win at the moment, but they are an older group that could drop quickly from contention, so it could turn out to be a great pick after all.

The Canadiens were short on cap space before this deal was made, and unfortunately, it sounds like the cap space will become available because Carey Price seems unlikely to be ready to begin the season on time, if at all.

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