NHL free agency: Former Canadien Sean Monahan cashes in with Columbus

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Former Canadiens forward Sean Monahan managed to stay healthy last season and on Monday he cashed in on that.

The 29-year-old played in 83 games last season, split between the Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets, posting 26-33-59 totals. On Monday, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed Monahan to a five-year, US$27.5-million contract as the NHL free-agent market opened. The contract has an annual salary-cap hit of US$5.5 million.

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Monahan had 13-22-35 totals in 49 games with the Canadiens last season before being traded to the Jets in exchange for a first-round pick at this year’s draft and a conditional third-round pick in 2027. The Canadiens traded the first-round pick (26th overall) to the Los Angeles Kings ahead of the NHL Draft Friday night in Las Vegas (along with a second-round pick and a seventh-round pick) in order to move up to the No. 21 spot. The Canadiens used the No. 21 pick to select centre Michael Hage, who had 33-42-75 totals in 54 games last season with the USHL’s Chicago Steel.

Monahan signed a one-year, US$1.985-million contract with the Canadiens last June after being limited to 25 games the previous season because of a broken foot, followed by groin surgery. Monahan’s contract last season included a US$15,000 bonus for playing 26 games.

The Canadiens acquired Monahan from Calgary on Aug. 18, 2022, along with a conditional first-round pick at next year’s draft, in exchange for future considerations as the Flames looked to rid themselves of the final year of Monahan’s contract, which had a US$6.375 million salary-cap hit. During his nine seasons with the Flames, Monahan had surgeries on both hips, along with two hernia surgeries and wrist surgery.

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In Columbus, Monahan will be reunited with former Flames teammate Johnny Gaudreau.

Predators make big splash

The Nashville Predators made the biggest splash on Day 1 of free agency, signing forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, along with defenceman Brady Skjei.

The three contracts have a combined total value of US$118.5 million.

Stamkos, 34, was signed to a four-year, US$42-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $8 million. Marchessault, 33, signed a five-year, US$27.5 million deal with a salary-cap hit of US$5.5 million. Skjei, 30, signed a seven-year, US$49-million contract with a cap hit of US$7 million.

Stamkos had 40-41-81 totals in 79 games last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, while Marchessault had 42-27-69 totals in 82 games with the Vegas Golden Knights. Skjei had 13-34-47 totals in 80 games with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Stamkos had spent 16 seasons with the Lightning, won two Stanley Cups and was the team captain after being the No. 1 overall pick at the 2008 NHL Draft. He was hoping to stay in Tampa, but couldn’t reach a deal with Lightning GM Julien BriseBois.

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“It’s been probably as crazy as you can think in terms of just a roller-coaster of emotions,” Stamkos told TSN’s James Duthie shortly after signing with the Predators.

“Clearly, so much amazing history in Tampa for my family and I,” added Stamkos, who has three children. “Ultimately, trying to work something out there and fell short — not by my trying, that’s for sure. But once we kind of got past that, we were really open to the opportunity of going somewhere else. Every time we were looking for things that would certainly interest us in a new team, Nashville kept popping up. So, thankful that they had mutual interest and we were able to get something done.”

Drouin stays in Colorado

Former Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin is staying in Colorado after signing a one-year, US$2.5-million contract on Monday.

Drouin signed a one-year, US$825,000 contract with Colorado as a free agent last July 1 and the 29-year-old went on to have the most productive offensive season of his 10-year NHL career, posting 19-37-56 totals in 79 games after being reunited with his junior Halifax Mooseheads teammate Nathan MacKinnon.

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Drouin’s previous high for points in a season was 53 in 2016-17 with the Tampa Bay Lightning and again in 2018-19 with the Canadiens when he had 18 goals and 35 assists.

Edmundson goes to Los Angeles

Former Canadiens defenceman Joel Edmundson is going to Los Angeles after signing a four-year, US$15.2-million contract with the Kings. The 35-year-old will be reunited with former Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin, who is now a senior adviser to Kings GM Rob Blake.

Canadiens GM Kent Hughes traded Edmundson to the Washington Capitals on July 1 last year in exchange for a third-round pick and a seventh-round pick at this year’s draft. The Capitals then traded Edmundson to the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of this year’s NHL trade deadline in exchange for a third-round pick this year and a fourth-round pick next year.

Domi stays with Leafs

Former Canadiens forward Max Domi is staying in Toronto after signing a four-year, US$15-million contract with the Maple Leafs on Sunday that has an annual salary-cap hit of US$3.75 million.

Domi, 29, signed a one-year, US$3-million contract with the Leafs on July 2 last year as a free agent and went on to post 9-38-47 totals in 80 games. The most productive season of Domi’s nine-year NHL career was with the Canadiens in 2018-19 when he had 28-44-72 totals in 82 games.

scowan@postmedia.com

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