Hockey

Ivan Demidov : what if the Canadiens still had Sean Monahan…
Marc-Olivier Cook
Ivan Demidov : what if the Canadiens still had Sean Monahan…
Credit: Getty Images

Kent Hughes maximized the value of Sean Monahan.

He acquired him from the Flames with a first-round pick in 2022… and the GM of the Habs then sent the center to Winnipeg for another first-round pick and a third-round pick.

Two first-round picks (and another third-round pick) for a guy who played a total of 74 games with the Habs, that's pretty excellent.

The Flames made a mistake by paying to get rid of the main interested party. The organization no longer believed in him because he was often injured… but today, Monahan would be one of the best players in Calgary.

And he probably would have helped the Flames qualify for the playoffs.

But in fact, the Habs might have also had to keep him in their ranks. We agree that Kent Hughes' decisions are difficult to criticize because he was able to get really interesting assets for the player.

On the other hand… The Habs would have the second center they've been looking for since Sean Monahan left. The Kirby Dach experience was never really fruitful and now, we keep saying that the Habs need to find a guy to surround Ivan Demidov on the team's second unit.

Monahan could have filled that seat. In fact… we could even say that he would have filled that seat wonderfully.

He didn't slow down: the former Habs player had 56 points in 53 games this season in Columbus.

He has a plus-18 differential, he plays in all possible situations because he is reliable in all three zones of the rink and he is an important part of his team's surprising successes since the start of the campaign.

But again, we can't hate the fact that Hughes used a player that nobody believed in to get two first-round picks. The Habs' GM took advantage of the situation at the 2024 trade deadline to add assets to his bank, and maybe that will turn in favor of the Habs in the coming years.

That being said, when we look at the situation from another angle, it's true that Monahan would really help the Habs right now.


Overtime

— I love it!

— Tony Marinaro agrees too:

— Good point.

— McDavid will be in uniform tonight. He is looking for his 100th point of the season.

— That would be something.

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