Avalanche a "team to monitor" in trade for Canadiens' Monahan: report

Jan 27 2023, 4:12 pm

Sean Monahan could soon find himself on the move. Again.

Monahan, a pending unrestricted free agent forward acquired alongside a conditional first-round pick from the Calgary Flames this past summer, could find a new home with the Colorado Avalanche before the NHL’s Trade Deadline, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

“I think the Colorado Avalanche is a team to monitor when it comes to Sean Monahan,” LeBrun said on Insider Trading on Thursday.

The trade deadline is set for March 3.

Monahan, who has the balance of a $6.375 million cap hit remaining, has six goals and 17 points in 25 games in his first season in Montreal. The oft-injured 28-year-old has 479 points (218 goals, 261 assists) in 681 games with the Canadiens and Calgary Flames.

The Avalanche, the reigning Stanley Cup champions, are fourth in the Central Division with a record of 26-18-3 for 55 points. They currently hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, holding the points-percentage tie-breaker over the Flames, who also have 55 points.

Colorado doesn’t have a plethora of assets to spend on high-end free-agent rentals like Ryan O’Reilly or Bo Horvat, making a more modestly priced Monahan a better potential fit, LeBrun said.

“They don’t have a lot of future assets, they’ve spent a lot over the past couple of years to get too serious with [those players]. That’s why I think a guy like Monahan makes sense and that’s why it’s a name I know the Avs have talked about.”

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