Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Sean Monahan, Kent Hughes, Carey Price

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — On Thursday, the Canadiens acquired Sean Monahan and a conditional first round draft pick from the Calgary Flames for future considerations. The Flames needed to clear cap space to fit in Nazem Kadri’s contract.

Monahan had a career high 34 goals, and 82 points in 2018-19, before injuries slowed down his production. Last season, he collected 23 points in 65 games before requiring a second hip surgery in two years.

“I’ve got a lot to prove, and I think the biggest thing is I want to prove it to myself. I know I’m a great player. It’s been a rocky road, so I’ve been working really hard this summer. On the ice, I feel like myself again and I’m enjoying the game. When you’re injured with those kinds of injuries that I’ve had, it takes a toll on you mentally, and to feel good again and love being on the ice and getting out there and having fun, pushing yourself, it’s a good feeling because it’s been a while. It’s been a long road coming,” Monahan told the media during a videoconference.

The 27-year old is continuing his rehab, and has started skating four times a week. It is not determined whether he will be ready to hit the ice for the season opener. “I don’t really want to have a target date, but my goal is to show up to camp and be ready to go from Day 1. That’s my target. But if there’s things that I’m feeling or lingering, I just don’t want to have any setbacks.”

Monahan is in the final year of a contract that counts for $6.3-million against the salary cap.

More Moves Coming?

Monahan becomes the 16th forward and fifth center on Montreal’s roster. In addition to Monahan, Paul Byron is also rehabbing from his injury. The door is open for Kent Hughes to make another move before the start of the season.

“We saw last year with the amount of injuries that we had, I think that we can never have too many good forwards,” answered Hughes when asked whether more moves should be expected. “For the moment, if a trade offer presents itself we will look at it, and I can’t tell you 100 percent that there will not be another trade until the start of the season, but if there isn’t, we’re happy to start the season with our current roster.”

Once Monahan is ready to play, Martin St. Louis will have five centers at his disposal. Monahan and Jake Evans are options to be moved to the wing if needed.

“I think we have a strong group of center ice men, and I’m a big believer that a successful hockey team needs to have a presence through the middle of the ice. It’s very important to the team. I think we have a good group of wingers as well, but we’re excited that it’s a young group of center ice men that we have,” Hughes said.

Discouraging News

The Canadiens are able to add Monahan’s contract on their payroll following news that they received about Carey Price.

“At this point in time, the news in terms of Carey’s knee is pretty discouraging in the sense that there hasn’t been any improvement through the rehab process all last season. Obviously, it continued to create problems for him. This summer, he went through the process of a shot to the knee, seeing if that would help. It did not, and at this point, we don’t expect Carey to be available for the start of the season. Quite frankly, I don’t know that there’s a path for Carey to return this season through the rehab process,” Hughes shared.

More information on Price’s future is expected after his physical at the beginning of training camp. The general manager confirmed that the goalie will be placed on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR). The organization will decide whether it will be off-season LTIR or in-season LTIR based on the negotiations with unsigned restricted free agents Kirby Dach and Cayden Primeau, and the rehab status of Byron and Monahan.

Despite interest received from other teams, Jake Allen will likely begin the season as the number one goalie and Samuel Montembeault as the backup.

Prospects Bonding

Players continue to make their way to Montreal in preparation for the season. On Saturday, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kaiden Guhle, Filip Mesar and Arber Xhekaj took in CF Montreal’s 4-0 win at Saputo Stadium.

The rookies report to camp on Sep. 14th for medicals and physical tests at Brossard.

https://twitter.com/cfmontreal/status/1561151571051925504?s=20&t=gVscPFKuSQwEoXhamln6HQ

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
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