After being traded by the Montreal Canadiens on February 1, centre Sean Monahan is now four games into his tenure with the Winnipeg Jets.
And while he’s had a few close calls and hit a few posts, the 29-year-old is off to a relatively slow start. In fact, despite being fourth on the Canadiens’ leading scorers list, Monahan has yet to produce a point with his new team.
Following the All-Star break, his first game with Winnipeg was a road bout against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were, funnily enough, the last opponent he faced as a member of the Habs.
Monahan logged 15:26 of ice time and just one shot on goal as his team was shut out by Pittsburgh.
Shaking off some of the nerves of being the new guy, Monahan was given even more ice time (17:03) in his second bout with the Jets, a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. And although he logged five shots on goal, the Brampton native finished the night as with +/- of -2.
While his third and fourth games saw his team come out on top, Monahan, who had 35 points in 49 games with Montreal this season, is still trying to get going.
Despite a lack of appearances on the scoresheet, Jets head coach Rick Bowness doesn’t seem worried, telling reporter Connor Hrabchak that he is pleased with the veteran centre’s game.
“He won a lot of big faceoffs for us tonight, he’s doing his job,” Bowness said of Monahan’s most recent performance in Wednesday’s win against the San Jose Sharks.
“It’ll come,” Bowness added, referring to the end of his pointless streak.
I asked Rick Bowness what he thought of the Perfetti-Monahan-Vilardi line tonight: "They created a lot more tonight than they have in the other games."
Only a matter of time for Monahan?
"He won a lot of big faceoffs for us tonight, he's doing his job, it'll come."#NHLJets
— Connor Hrabchak (@ConnorHrabchak1) February 15, 2024
While panic hasn’t set in yet, it’s clear that the Jets are expecting more from Monahan, given that they gave up a first-round draft pick in 2024 and a conditional third-round pick in 2027 to acquire him.
He’ll get another chance on Saturday when Winnipeg takes on the Vancouver Canucks.
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