Flames probably regret gifting Monahan to Canadiens now

Less than two years ago, the Calgary Flames paid a significant price to the Montreal Canadiens to take Sean Monahan off their hands.

Roughly two months ahead of the 2022-23 season, the Flames dealt Monahan and a first-round pick to the Canadiens in exchange for future considerations. At that time, Monahan was struggling with a nagging hip injury and was coming off of a season in which he had just eight goals and 23 points in 65 games.

Monahan’s first season with the Canadiens was an injury-riddled one, as he played in just 25 games due to injuries to his foot and groin. That said, his production had improved in that short stint, with six goals and 17 points.

This season has been an incredible bounce-back for Monahan, who is up to 13 goals and 35 points through 49 games. His production has caught the eye of many, including the Winnipeg Jets, who earlier today traded a 2024 first-round pick as well as a 2027 conditional third-round pick to acquire him.

It is brilliant asset management by Habs general manager (GM) Kent Hughes, as he was able to not only acquire a first-round pick by bringing in Monahan but was able to flip him for another roughly a year and a half later. From the Flames’ perspective, it appears to be a massive failure.

At the time of the trade, former Flames GM Brad Treliving moved out Monahan to open up cap space to sign Nazem Kadri to a seven-year, $49 million deal. That decision hasn’t worked out as hoped, as Kadri has been just okay with 40 goals and 95 points in a combined 131 games, while the Flames look like they will miss the playoffs for a second straight season.

Given that the Flames are now re-tooling, the best decision they could have made was walking Monahan to free agency, which he was set to hit in 2022-23. Had they done that, they wouldn’t have had to part ways with their first-round pick and wouldn’t have Kadri’s hefty deal on the books. Hindsight is always 20/20, of course, but the decision to pay a premium to move Monahan has turned out to be a major error by Treliving.

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