The Montreal Canadiens didn't want to invest $5.5 M for five years on older players last off-season, general manager Kent Hughes doesn't want to give too much term to older players so the Habs couldn't sign players like Sean Monahan or Cap-Rouge born Jonathan Marchessault. There are still plenty of unanswered questions about Kirby Dach, but the most pressing in this rebuild is whether he is a center. Monahan, who spent two seasons in Montreal, ended up inking a five-year pact with the Columbus Blue Jackets and was happy to reunite with former teammate Johnny Gaudreau. Unfortunately, tragedy struck this Summer and Johnny Hockey and his brother Matthew were killed by an alleged drunk driver. Affected by their tragic death, Monahan still put on his working boots and this weekend, he became only the third player to record 20 points in his first 20 games with the Jackets. He joins Andew Cassels (another former Canadiens) and of course, Gaudreau in the franchise history book. Monahan played part of two seasons in Montreal, he suffered from injury woes in his first year, but showed just how good he still was in his second season, netting the Canadiens a first-round pick when they traded him to the Winnipeg Jets. A pick which was used to move up in the draft from the 26th place to the 21st and pick Michael Hage. The Canadiens could definitely use Monahan's leadership and stabilizing presence this season, but in the long run, not giving a five-year deal to a 30-year-old was probably the right move. It's highly likely Martin St-Louis would have less of an headache trying to get Kirby Dach going if Monahan was sill in town. Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains] Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens
