As per TSN Insider Pierre LeBrun, the Colorado Avalanche “is a team to monitor when it comes to Sean Monahan.” Noting during Thursday’s Insider Trading, LeBrun is reporting the Avalanche fully expects Gabriel Landeskog to be back before the playoffs and because his cap hit will count on the roster, the Avs need to find a target that will fill their needs but not cost a ton to acquire. Monahan could be that player.
LeBrun notes what most fans who have followed the trade deadline know, in that the Canadiens are sellers. Monahan is about ready to return from injury and while there has been chatter in the past that Montreal might elect to re-sign the center, the most likely scenario is that they trade him. They aren’t shopping him, but they will field calls.
Meanwhile, the Avalanche are a team that wants to add and will be going for it this season. They’re the defending Stanley Cup Champions, and are starting to get healthy and Joe Sakic wants to give his team the best possible odds of repeating. However, they don’t have as much cap space as people might think and they don’t have a ton of assets and picks they can give up to acquire what they need. The fact that Montreal won’t be asking for a lot and might be willing to retain salary on any Monahan deal is right up Colorado’s alley.
LeBrun notes, “So when it comes to Ryan O’Reilly or Bo Horvat, yes I think the Avs are going to keep tabs on those situations. However, they don’t have a lot of future assets, they’ve spent a lot over the past couple of years to get too serious with [those players]. That’s why I think a guy like Monahan makes sense and that’s why it’s a name I know the Avs have talked about.”
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