NHL Rumour Roundup: Can the Canadiens get a first-round pick for Sean Monahan?

When the Montreal Canadiens traded for Sean Monahan on August 18, 2022, it was a cap-dump move for the Flames. At the time, Calgary was being forced to turnover key parts of the top of its roster and so, to make room for the incoming UFA signing of Nazem Kadri, then-GM Brad Treliving sent Monahan and a conditional 2025 first-rounder to Montreal for future considerations.

Monahan had fallen down Calgary's lineup in 2021-22, often playing a fourth-line role and finishing with just eight goals and 23 points in 65 games -- the worst season in his nine-year career. Monahan also missed the end of the regular season and the playoffs after needing hip surgery. Montreal took the entirety of his $6.375 million AAV, with one more season remaining on the deal.

In his first year as a Canadien, Monahan started with 17 points in 25 games and was well on his way to turning into a valued trade asset for the Canadiens. However, injury again sidelined him -- he played his last game in December -- and so Montreal instead re-signed him to a one-year contract with a $1.985 million cap hit.

Now Monahan is healthy and productive again, third on the Canadiens with 13 goals and 34 points in 48 games. A pending UFA centre, Monahan is suddenly becoming a valuable trade asset again for the Canadiens. Can they find a way to get a first-rounder out of Monahan on both sides of the trade market?

"Sean Monahan is a really interesting case because I've noticed this big debate online about 'do the Canadiens get a first round pick for Sean Monahan?'" Elliotte Friedman said on Friday's 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.

"I would say a) it depends on how many teams are interested and b) it also depends on what the chances are of a team being interested to re-sign him," Friedman explained. "I would say the base line he's probably not a guy they get a first-rounder for unless a team wants to extend him or there's such a race for him it pushes it up into that first round range."

Whether as a second- or third-line centre, Monahan plays a position that is often an important target for teams to upgrade at the deadline. He wins 55 per cent of his draws and, as described by our scout Jason Bukala, he's a player who "manages his shift length in relation to his fatigue threshold and certainly cannot be described as a transition threat. His best work comes from the hash marks down and around the crease hunting tips and rebounds."

Bukala noted the Canucks could be a potential landing spot for Monahan in his article about how Vancouver should approach the trade deadline. However, he did not have a first-round pick going back to Montreal in return.

SABRES OPEN TO MOVING ERIK JOHNSON?

As they scratch and claw to try and keep a fingernail in the playoff race, it's becoming increasingly more obvious that this will be another disappointing season for the Buffalo Sabres.

While off-season questions surely will kick up about the make up of the core, the more immediate decisions for the organization will be what to do at the trade deadline. They won't want to permit a losing culture to fester any further, but unless a pending UFA is set to re-sign, they'll have to be viewed as a trade candidate.

When Erik Johnson signed a one-year, $3.25 million contract with Buffalo on July 1 everyone hoped he would be a key veteran presence and a leader in the dressing room still finding direction. Now he may be some contender's late-season arrival.

"I've started to hear his name a little bit. It makes a lot of sense to me," Friedman said.

A big, right-shot defenceman, Johnson has averaged 14:11 in ice time per game this season and played more shorthanded minutes than any other Sabres blueliner. Johnson has played 961 career NHL games and won the Stanley Cup with Colorado just two years ago. This is exactly the type of defenceman that is often moved this time of season.

"Really good team guy. Keeps himself in great shape. Loves hockey. I just had some people say watch this one. There's going to be interest in Erik Johnson," Friedman said. "Winning reputation, easy fit in a dressing room."

"The Sabres are going to have some options here."

SENATORS STILL FIGURING OUT WHICH PATH TO TAKE

With points in their past five games, and in six of the past seven, Ottawa is just beginning to come together better than any other point so far this season. Still a young, developing team, the Senators have had plenty of hiccups and distractions this season.

And while their 18-24-2 record has them at the bottom of the Eastern Conference as one of the NHL's most disappointing outfits, GM Steve Staios said the team's better play of late will allow him a clearer look at their strengths and weaknesses.

“I don’t think it was fair for me to give a full evaluation on this team until they started to have some stability in their play,” Staios said at a press conference this week. “Now we’re getting a sense of what this team is all about.”

Questions start with pending UFAs, such as Vladimir Tarasenko, who it would seem are a foregone conclusion to deal.

From there, the Senators have to determine what to take away from this season and what it really means for a group to quickly fall out of the playoff race and then start finding consistency when all is lost.

One of the topics of conversation has been about their collection of left-shot defencemen, as Jake Sanderson ($8.05 million) and Thomas Chabot ($8 million) are already locked into big-money contracts for several more seasons while Jakob Chychrun only has one season remaining on his $4.6 million AAV. It's a lot of money to invest in one position down the lineup, and attempts to move Chychrun to the right side with Chabot haven't always worked out.

As a result, Chychrun's name has come up in trade rumours, which Staios lamented.

"I think a couple things have happened," Friedman said. "Number 1: Chychrun's up for a new deal after this year. To me that more than anything else is the reason his name got out there.

"What it comes down to is if Chychrun prices himself out of Ottawa in a year from now. Either he's going to have to go or someone else is going to have to go."

If someone else has to go, many wonder if the choice for the organization might come down to Chychrun versus Chabot.

However, while the Senators are in a traditional "sellers" position in the standings there's still a sense that they could look to add someone who will help them into next season and perhaps beyond.

"I do believe that the Senators are looking for an experienced defenceman," Friedman said.