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The Canadiens have considered extending Sean Monahan’s contract

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The Canadiens have considered extending Sean Monahan’s contract
In less than two months, the trade deadline will be the talk of the hockey world. And with the Habs, it will be no exception.

After all, the club has a few pieces to sell. But which ones?

Obviously, there’s one goalie who, in an ideal world, should leave. And to stay in that ideal world, the goalie in question would be Jake Allen. And he’d be playing as well as ever by March. And teams wouldn’t worry about his contract. And- okay, you get the idea.

Goalies aside, one has to wonder if Kent Hughes will take advantage of March 8 to free up some space on the blue line. I don’t expect the GM to trade a promising young defenseman this winter, since such transactions are more likely to happen in the off-season.

But in March, could guys like David Savard and/or Johnathan Kovacevic leave? Note that I don’t believe, even if he’s on a few lists, that Mike Matheson will leave between now and March 8. And he doesn’t seem to want to leave either…

And among the forwards? Tanner Pearson, if healthy? Possibly, yes.

But you know as well as I do that the big piece in all this is Sean Monahan. He’s the one who has the potential to bring a lot back to Kent Hughes for the future. And that’s even if it could hurt the leadership of a team that’s still young.

In fact, according to David Pagnotta, the Habs would like to have a first- or second-round pick and a prospect in return for the veteran center’s services.

And according to The Fourth Period, that’s what should happen: he should be traded.

This isn’t a big surprise in the sense that a guy who signs a one-year contract ($1,985,000) like this with a bad club has to suspect that there’s a chance of a trade at the deadline.

Remember that, according to Darren Dreger, the Habs promised Sean Monahan that he’d be traded to a good club at the 2024 trade deadline if he signed a one-year contract.

Yesterday, Kent Hughes wouldn’t confirm this, but we suspect that’s the plan.

Why am I telling you this today? Because in The Fourth Period , where Monahan is linked to the Jets, Avalanche and Rangers, it’s mentioned that the Habs have “explored the idea” of extending Monahan’s contract.

In the end, however, it is specified that the Habs will honor their off-season promise by sending the veteran elsewhere, to a good team that will fight for the Stanley Cup.

Remember that yesterday, on this subject, Kent Hughes didn’t close the door on anything. For what it’s worth, he couldn’t necessarily say the opposite when answering the question, but still.

The fact that management has considered keeping him is not abnormal, since it’s the bosses’ job to evaluate all options.

That’s true in general, but it’s also true when it comes to thinking about the future of an excellent veteran to surround the youngsters off the ice, but also on it.

There isn’t a top-9 role he can’t fill with the Habs.

If the Habs really felt that keeping him was the right thing to do, they could have gone to him with a plan, promising him the deal discussed over the summer if that’s what they wanted.

And this was clearly a possibility on the table. Recently, the club has thought about talking about a contract extension, but in the end, it seems clear that sooner rather than later, Monahan will leave.

It remains to be seen how Kent Hughes will maximize his striker’s value… and which team will dance with him following negotiations that will no doubt involve numerous teams.


In Brief

– Good question.

– Read more.

– Forever my favorite goal.

– One less candidate to be traded.

– How do you like it?

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