February 3, 2024
On Friday, February 2nd, General Manager Kent Hughes got an early start on his trade deadline business when he dealt centreman Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets for a first round pick in 2024 and a conditional third round pick in 2027. The condition holds a a high threshold – the Habs get the pick if the Jets win the Stanley Cup.
As much as Monahan was beloved in Montreal, this is a deal to cheer about.
The asset management alone is reason enough to cheer.
How do you not love this asset management? Hughes gained a first by taking Monahan’s contract off Calgary’s hands in the first place. Then he reaped the benefits of a veteran centre supporting Nick Suzuki for half a season. Then Hughes re-signed Monahan to a sweet and tradable contract and benefited from another half season of strong veteran support. Then he dealt Monahan for another first round pick. Kent Hughes turned cap space and fresh air into two first round picks. That’s brilliant.
The timing of this deal is another savvy move by the GM.
Might Hughes have gotten more if he waited until closer to March 8th? Perhaps. He might also have been left trying to deal an injured player. He would certainly have been dealing with an increased group of sellers and potentially other centremen on the market. But there are other reasons to love the timing beyond managing the injury risk.
Doing the deal now weakens the team and means they will drop further in the standings, thereby improving their lottery odds. It also means that Hughes can focus on other potential deals between now and March 8th. Moving Tyler Toffoli early in 2022 allowed them to focus on trading other players who were attracting interest on the market.
Since Hughes was savvy enough to avoid using a salary retention slot on Monahan, he is now free to use it to move another player. Jake Allen, Joel Armia and Tanner Pearson are three players that other teams may covet at half the cost. Hughes can also use that retention spot to facilitate another trade as he did with Nick Bonino last deadline.
The Habs are also in a position to use their considerable cap space to take an asset with a salary dump from a team that feels they have a better player available to them via trade.
We can anticipate more cheering when Hughes trades that pick.
I will be gobsmacked if the Habs draft a player with that Jets pick. Look at the approach to the last two drafts. The Montreal Canadiens made a selection with a high pick in both, drafting first and fifth overall in consecutive years. But they also traded picks they had stockpiled, and a player they felt they could afford to move, to land two NHL-ready forwards still in their developmental years.
At some point between now and the draft floor, I expect Hughes and company to identify a goal-scoring forward who can be obtained with a combination of draft picks and prospects or young players, and make that deal. Imagine if the Anaheim Ducks decided to make Trevor Zegras available before the deadline, and rather than a contender nabbing him it’s Hughes who swoops in with his stockpile of assets to make the deal.
Alternatively, Hughes could package any of the picks he currently has to move up in the draft for a player he covets. This option is not available to teams lacking draft capital.
The Winnipeg Jets are as good a team as any for Habs fans to cheer for when the playoffs roll around.
We loved Sean Monahan with the Habs, and we’re all feeling the sting that Nick Suzuki talked about immediately after the trade. Do we love him enough to cheer for him to compete for a Stanley Cup? Does it help that he’s going to the perpetually underdog Winnipeg Jets – no matter how good they are, it seems – who really wanted him?
Perhaps neither of those things motivate you, but a third round pick isn’t nothing. If the Jets win, we get one of those too.
Now let’s see what else Hughes has up his sleeve before the deadline. There may be more cheering yet to come.
Hab At Her 