Excerpt from 'Habs Hockey Report' of host Amy Johnson commenting on Arber Xhekaj's return to the NHL. In a thin market for top-six NHL centers, Sean Monahan has been a name brought up frequently in discussions surrounding potential trade deals. Friday morning saw those speculations come to fruition when it was announced by the Montreal Canadiens that they had traded the Brampton native to the Winnipeg Jets. Drafted in the first round by the Calgary Flames in 2013, the Canadiens acquired Monahan, along with a conditional 2025 first-rounder, in August 2022 in exchange for future considerations. In an unfortunate turn of events, Monahan suffered a season-ending injury after just 25 games played for Montreal in the 2022-23 season. This year, the forward has experienced success and stayed healthy, accruing 13 goals and 22 assists in 49 games played. Over parts of two seasons with Montreal, Monahan recorded 52 points in 74 games and enjoyed a 55 per cent success rate at the faceoff dot. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-2FelHWtOw[/embed] The return for Monahan from Winnipeg doesn't involve any players, but Kent Hughes has added to his draft capital by receiving a 2024 first-round pick and a 2027 conditional third-round pick. It is important to note that the Canadiens are not retaining any salary in the exchange. That leaves one retention spot available for Hughes to use in the lead up to the trade deadline. Montreal used their two other slots to retain salary when Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson were traded. The Canadiens currently own five draft picks in the first three rounds of the 2024 NHL Draft. Gretzky Signature Series. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNzAzMjM2NzQxMTEzNjIw/gretzky-northland.jpg] Gretzky Signature Series.
