Ex-Flames forward Sean Monahan having impressive season with Canadiens

Ex-Calgary Flames forward Sean Monahan may never get back to the player he was in his prime, but he can still be effective.

Through the first six seasons of his career, Monahan was a player the Flames could rely upon to produce plenty of offence. He recorded over 60 points in four of those seasons and scored north of 30 goals on three occasions.

Injuries then began to take their toll on the now 29-year-old, resulting in some major struggles during his final three seasons with the Flames. Feeling like his days of being an impactful player were behind him, former general manager Brad Treliving chose to trade him and a conditional first-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for future considerations.

This trade was simply a cap dump, as the Flames wanted to rid themselves of Monahan’s $6.375 million cap hit. That move seemed to be somewhat justified after Monahan was able to suit up for just 25 games last season due to injury.

Despite his limited action, the Habs liked what they saw from Monahan, and re-signed him to a one-year, $2 million deal. So far, so good, as the veteran forward has himself nine goals and 19 points through 31 games, putting him on track to have his first 50-point season since 2018-19.

Though Monahan’s production has been streaky this season (he went through an eight-game pointless streak in November), the numbers he is putting up have made his $2 million deal a bargain for the Canadiens. Given the Flames’ scoring woes, you can’t help but wonder how much his production would help.

While Flames fans will always think about what could have been with Monahan before his injuries, it is great to see that he appears to be healthy again. If he can continue producing at a similar pace for the remainder of the season, he could be in line for a nice payday as a free agent this summer.

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