[Signing] Monahan signs with CBJ (5 yrs, $5.5 mil AAV)

[CliffFletcher]

Monahan could barely hang on to a 4th line C role, and it looked like he would be out of the NHL in a season or two. His comeback has been remarkable - and completely unexpected.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Monahan could barely hang on to a 4th line C role, and it looked like he would be out of the NHL in a season or two. His comeback has been remarkable - and completely unexpected.

Yeah, I was always a fan of his, and the deal wasn't a good one at all, but it's pretty funny to see all the 20/20 hindsight here about where we was headed career wise.

[BigThief]

I read the first handful of pages and most seem pissed off a 1st was rumoured to be going the other way. Some try to justify it as a trade of those assets for Kadri but it's after the fact grasping. Unless we're just building strawmen again, gentleman?

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Monahan could barely hang on to a 4th line C role, and it looked like he would be out of the NHL in a season or two. His comeback has been remarkable - and completely unexpected.

He was injured…

[Jetfire]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

He was injured…

Yeah, some people are also ignoring what was a common third opinion at the time, "if Monahan could ever get healthy again he's still a good player".

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

He was injured…

For a couple years at that point. He had seasons of 48, 28, and 23 point before he was traded. NHL players have their careers derailed and ended prematurely by injury all the time.

If smart hockey people knew Monahan was going to return to being a point a game player, why didn’t a single team jump in to grab him for nothing when they had a chance? The Flames had to attach a 1st to Monahan to move him and his contract. Nobody wanted him.

[BigThief]

No one knew Monahan was going to return to good health and play, why do you continue to make things up? With a 10 team no trade clause, an injury history, and $6.35 cap hit in a stagnant cap world he was a very tough move. That combined with a desperate GM wanting to sign another player made Treliving pay a high value to do it.

There was always value in this player; even after playing just 25 games for Montreal the Habs still signed him to a one year deal because they could see the value in him if healthy.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

If smart hockey people knew Monahan was going to return to being a point a game player, why didn’t a single team jump in to grab him for nothing when they had a chance? The Flames had to attach a 1st to Monahan to move him and his contract. Nobody wanted him.

Part of it was that the cap was flat after COVID, and nobody knew how long it would remain flat. That $6 million contract was hard for any team to take on, but Montreal had lots of cash and LTIR room.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jetfire

Yeah, some people are also ignoring what was a common third opinion at the time, "if Monahan could ever get healthy again he's still a good player".

That was my opinion, and it was pretty consistently a minority one.

[Roof-Daddy]

Monahan's injuries
Bennett's slow development
Fox being a piece of garbage

The team still had 114 points in Johnny and Matthew's last season here.

What could have been......

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

For a couple years at that point. He had seasons of 48, 28, and 23 point before he was traded. NHL players have their careers derailed and ended prematurely by injury all the time.

If smart hockey people knew Monahan was going to return to being a point a game player, why didn’t a single team jump in to grab him for nothing when they had a chance? The Flames had to attach a 1st to Monahan to move him and his contract. Nobody wanted him.

Yeah. He wasn’t “struggling to play 4th line”. He was playing injured. He was injured. He’s not anymore… he didn’t just remember how to play hockey. He healed.

[DeluxeMoustache]

^that. It's pretty simple

He always was so good at finding the quiet areas, he was clutch here

Montreal killed it, getting 2 first rounders and a spell of decent production for cheap

I will mention, Backlund also had a lot of injuries at one point early in his career. Didn’t forget how to play hockey

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Yeah. He wasn’t “struggling to play 4th line”. He was playing injured. He was injured. He’s not anymore… he didn’t just remember how to play hockey. He healed.

Yes. And nobody in hockey thought he would heal. Which is why the Flames couldn’t give him away and had to attach a 1st round pick just to get someone to eat his contract.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yes. And nobody in hockey thought he would heal. Which is why the Flames couldn’t give him away and had to attach a 1st round pick just to get someone to eat his contract.

Nobody except for Montreal was patient enough to let him heal.

I think that's the difference.

Flames were the organization that should have been patient enough to let the asset heal but were in win now mode trying to prove they could attract players by signing Kadri.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Nobody except for Montreal was patient enough to let him heal.

Montreal is one of the three big-money teams in the NHL. The Habs, Leafs, and Rangers, among them, typically earn close to half the total profits of the entire league (according to Forbes numbers over the years). And Montreal was already into LTIR money because of Carey Price, so they had no way of accruing cap space during the season.

They spent $6 million in cash, which means little to them, plus $6 million in LTIR space, which was a use-it-or-lose-it asset, to buy a 1st-round pick. Then they re-signed Monahan for just $2 million for another year, and when (by sheer luck) he turned out to be healthy and the Habs were out of the playoff picture, they sold him off as a rental for another 1st.

It was very shrewd business by the Habs, especially the back half of the transaction, after Monahan was eligible to go to UFA status. But it wasn't necessarily stupidity on the Flames' part.

I don't think Treliving ever had the option to keep Monahan on LTIR for a full year. The owners clearly decided to try to retool on the fly, and they wanted every dollar of cap space available to hire players they knew were healthy and ready to play.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by BigThief

I read the first handful of pages and most seem pissed off a 1st was rumoured to be going the other way. Some try to justify it as a trade of those assets for Kadri but it's after the fact grasping. Unless we're just building strawmen again, gentleman?

Monny was only traded with a first attached so Kadri could be signed. That first was essentially a trade for Kadri.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yes. And nobody in hockey thought he would heal. Which is why the Flames couldn’t give him away and had to attach a 1st round pick just to get someone to eat his contract.

The Flames didn’t have to do anything though. They decided to pay a 1st to dump a player to sign an older player to play on a roster that had significantly changed. Kadri’s fine but it was a dumb move.

[FanIn80]

Got the shootout winner last night (scored on first shot, only player to score).

[edslunch]

I miss his shot

[Calgary4LIfe]

Gaudreau leaving should have started the rebuild, and by Maloney's account, it was considered. They almost took a rebuild offer for Tkachuk until Florida stepped up there offer. At the time, it seemed like an overpay for Tkachuk, and most people and pundits declared Calgary the winner (which is why declaring winners on the day of a trade is often a bad idea). I will always argue that you can't walk a top-tier franchise player to UFA. You either sign him the year before, or you trade him, period. Trading Gaudreau after a less successful season would have still been preferable to watching him walk after a career season. Conroy won't make that mistake in the future, I bet.



The Kadri signing made sense if you were going to go all-in at the time. However, the real argument for me isn't Kadri vs Monahan. it is Treliving's relatively poor use of cap space. If Neal wasn't signed, then the Flames wouldn't have traded for Lucic, plus I do think there was additional dead cap space (buyouts from before - wasn't some Brouwer money still there?), so they wouldn't have had to trade Monahan out.


It is nice to see Monahan doing well. He is a guy you can't help but cheer for. He was groomed to be the future captain for a while. It is nice to see him having success again.