Sean Monahan is a Winnipeg Jet

Be sure to check Betway to check out the latest Jets game day odds and bet on the NHL! We have great news from the All-Star weekend! Kevin Cheveldayoff completed a trade with the Montreal Canadiens for centerman Sean Monahan. Cheveldayoff traded a 2024 first-round pick and a conditional third-round pick in 2027. The condition is if the Winnipeg Jets win the Cup, Montreal gets the 2027 third-round draft pick.

Monahan, 29, from Brampton, Ontario, was drafted sixth overall by the Calgary Flames in 2013 and has only played in two Canadian markets: Calgary and Montreal.

The 6’2″ forward has 13 goals and 35 points in 49 games this season. Throughout his career, he has played 730 games, scoring 231 goals and 514 points over 11 seasons.

A couple of things to note: he was a -10 with Montreal this season while starting in the offensive zone 50.8 percent of the time. While Monahan hasn’t been known to be a defensive juggernaut, he really hasn’t needed to be one for the teams he’s played for. Under Rick Bowness, he may find a defensive structure that works for him as he gets 35 games before the playoffs to get acclimatized to the Jets’ defensive structure.

Monahan will have a cap hit of 1.9 million dollars, so no cap retention on the deal for Montreal. Frank Seravalli explained on Daily Faceoff Live that Montreal had one more retention spot, and they didn’t want to use it on their former forward.

The Jets will have about 3.2 million dollars in cap space at the trade deadline if they don’t trade any roster players, which means they could still shop for either a defenseman or another winger.

Bowness told ESPN he expects Monahan to start on a line with Cole Perfetti and Nikolaj Ehlers.

Overall, this is a win for both sides. The Jets get a top-six centerman, a guy who can help the horrid power play, and someone who can win faceoffs. This fixes the issues that were so obvious while Mark Scheifele was out injured. I don’t see this as an overpayment for Monahan. The first-round draft pick is going to be a late-round draft pick; it doesn’t hurt that much.

Montreal gets a second first-round draft pick out of Monahan, the first coming from Calgary to eat up his previous contract and then a first to move the guy to Winnipeg. This will help Montreal be worse for the rest of the season to have better odds for a first overall draft pick.

I’ve already seen a handful of comments on how “made of glass” he is and that he is injury-prone. Since 2017-18, Monahan has missed 20 or more games twice. Last year he was out long term, only playing 25 games for Montreal but hasn’t missed a game since being healthy. This is a weak narrative; he will probably be fine to play on the second line.

Overall, I give Cheveldayoff a B+ on the trade and Kent Hughes, general manager of the Habs, an A for the trade.