Montreal Canadiens: Three Potential Sean Monahan Trade Packages On Seller's Market
The Montreal Canadiens are starting to look like they will be sellers ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
I mean, we kind of knew that at the start of the season. But they did hang around the playoff race just a little bit longer than we thought before a recent lull really knocked them back down to earth. They are not quite at the bottom of the NHL standings but they are starting to inch closer to the basement as the season goes along.
With a fairly young roster already in place, we can't expect a big firesale as we lead up to the trade deadline. We can leave that to the Calgary Flames. However, the Canadiens are clearly not going to be in the market for a top scorer or first pairing defenseman at the deadline. They will be realistic and sell off a few assets.
The most obvious player to trade right now is Sean Monahan. The veteran center is having a steady season as a two-way player with 11 goals and 31 points in 47 games. He is also a pending unrestricted free agent which means the Canadiens either trade him soon or lose him for nothing in the offseason.
Considering he is a terrific faceoff guy, puts up solid production on offense and is not going to hurt a team defensively, he is a valuable commodity on the trade market. The fact his cap his is less than $2 million this season just makes a trade that much easier to pull off.
Many teams, including the Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and Washington Capitals could be interested in Monahan's services as a second or third line center.
With such a robust market for a two-way center, the Canadiens are going to get some serious offers for Monahan. Let's take a look at what three of them could be.
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are in a bit of weird spot as an organization right now. They are not quite good enough to consider themselves playoff locks at the moment, and currently sit just outside the playoff bubble as we sit early in the second half of the season.
At the same time, they have an aging core that includes the legendary Alex Ovechkin who is chasing down history as he approaches Wayne Gretzky's all time goal scoring record. Even though they probably shouldn't be reckless as buyers ahead of the trade deadline, they kind of owe it to their franchise star to put a competitive team on the ice.
That could lead to them buying a player like Monahan. Especially since Nicklas Backstrom has been ruled out for the season and Evgeny Kuznetsov has not been effective this season and has recently been moved to the wing. They need some depth down the middle to really be competitive in the Metropolitan Division.
The Capitals are not in a position to trade their top prospects like Ryan Leonard or Andrew Cristall, but they could put forward an enticing offer of Hendrix Lapierre.
The Gatineau, Quebec native was a star in the QMJHL for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Acadie-Bathurst Titan before turning pro in 2022-23. He scored 30 points in 60 games with the Hershey Bears that season and has eight points in 11 AHL games this season to go with seven points in 25 NHL games this season.
The 21 year old projects as a point producing and playmaking center which is why he was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft. He hasn't really wowed yet at the pro level but the local boy could be an interesting add for the Canadiens and would fill a need as a young center.
Boston Bruins
The Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins do not link up on trades very often. In fact, the last one was a swap of depth defenders when Eric Weinrich was dealt for Patrick Traverse in 2001.
That's well over 20 years ago and there were not many trades between the two rivals in the 30 years before that. I suppose, after gifting the Canadiens Ken Dryden in a deal in 1964 the Bruins just decided to never deal with the Canadiens again.
However, the Bruins lost Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to retirement last summer and didn't really add anyone to fill that void. Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle have filled in that gap quite admirably this season, but there is no question the Bruins could use some help down the middle.
There are a few centers out there available including Adam Henrique and Elias Lindholm but Monahan is narrowly outscoring both of them and earns a fraction of the salary as well. It is easy to make a case Monahan is having the best season of any center that is available on the trade market.
That would make him an attractive piece for the Bruins and they are in a position to offer a future first round pick and a prospect like Frederic Brunet for Monahan.
The first round pick would have to be in 2025 as the Bruins already traded their upcoming first rounder to the Detroit Red Wings for Tyler Bertuzzi. Brunet is a left defenseman, and the Canadiens don't really need more of those, but he is just 20 years old and a bit of a project who could stay with the Laval Rocket for a couple years.
Brunet is a first year pro and has six points in 23 games for the Providence Bruins of the AHL. He really broke out in the QMJHL last season after being a fifth round pick when he scored 73 points in 66 games from the blue line. He has good size at 6'3" giving him the size to defend at the NHL level and his Junior numbers show he has the potential to be an offensive contributor as well.
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are a Stanley Cup contender but are not without holes in their lineup. They rolled the dice on a couple of cheap top six options last summer and one has worked while the other has not.
The one that seems to be working is actually former Canadiens winger Jonathan Drouin. After a slow start he is on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen and has been producing at a point per game pace for a while.
Meanwhile, Ryan Johansen has been gifted the opportunity to take over as the team's second line center but is struggling to put up points. The Avs signed him to a two year deal with a $4 million cap hit but he has just 18 points in 48 games this season. That will not cut it as a second line center on a Cup contender.
If the Canadiens offered to take Johansen's contract and give up Monahan, they would be in a position to ask for an incredible haul in return.
The Avalanche's best prospect is Calum Ritchie and he is tearing up the OHL with 41 points in 25 games with the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. He was a first round pick last June and is a big right shooting center that is a terrific two-way player at the Junior level. He projects as a middle six centre that can do it all in the NHL and the Canadiens could obviously use a player like that in their system.
Ritchie is not quite among the very best prospects in the hockey world but he is making a case this season to be in the top 30. Taking on Johansen's contract for next season and giving up Monahan might be just what the Canadiens need to do to add a prospect of that magnitude.
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