Easy decline for the devils. Severson is not depth, he’s going to fetch far more than the perceived value you have showing here.

Thanks for the response.

I'm not sure about his value to be honest. He's playing on the 3rd pair in his contract year and is a minus player on a team that is winning more than it's losing.

I am not trying to troll anyone, I took a look at 4-5 trades involving Severson and they mostly have a Center or middle 6 forward coming back. Monahan has a 0.67 ppg so far this season that puts him ahead of some of the other forwards being acquired and at least salary.

Finally if he doesn't work out the Devils can surely sell him at the TDL for a decent package especially if you retain additional salary.

I stand by this being a good deal, but I understand if you are unsure about Monahan because of the injury history.

It’s not even about monahans injury history. For one thing, the Devils defense has been top of the league in shot absorption and pretty much any other defensive metric to start the season. Itd be criminal to sell him off while the team is playing so well, especially for a downgrade on the backend and a center we wouldn’t even know where to slot into the lineup.
Additionally, Severson is a RHD and one of the best possible rental pieces come TDL. Regardless of what line he is slated on, he gets a round 20minutes a night and would be a #2 guy, maybe #1 on quite a few teams. His value as a RHD alone trumps any value Monahan might have from his hot start.
There is just no reason nor any incentive involved to make this trade from a New Jersey perspective.

Interesting perspective. Thanks!

I do think a Center and a RHD have equivalent value at the TDL if they can both play a 2 way game so I think you are being a little unfair, but that's your prerogative sir!

Both our teams are off to a hot start and probably shouldn't change things... But then there would be nothing to do here at ACGM but marvel at the Leafs fans eviscerating one of the deepest forward cores the NHL has seen in a decade.

It cost Calgary a 1st to dump Monahan just a few months ago. Cannot imagine his value has changed all that much.

So let’s start with what the market is actually paying:

Monahan + 2025 1st round pick (CGY) = 0
Severson = late 1st, 3rd
Wideman = 3rd

By my math…
Monahan, Wideman + two 1sts = Severson

Cannot possibly see why the Devils would entertain this.
Severson is playing a very important role for the team and, like K mentioned above, there's really no obvious spot for Monahan in the Devils lineup as things currently stand, and even less so when Palat returns from injury.
It's looking more and more likely that Severson is staying the entire season in New Jersey given how well the team is playing.

Why would Montreal do this?

You're talking about depth until Mailloux or Barron step up, Severson is on a 1 year contract, and Montreal doesn't need that depth for this year, it's a no expectation year, and at worse, if they want Severson in the future, make a bid in FA.

Shipping Monahan for a potential rental when they aren't expected to achieve anything seems like a waste of an asset.

I can't fault your Math, but I challenge your logic.

Nobody knew where Monahan was at in his rehabilitation, which is why Calgary paid to dump him. He had been severely injured for 2 seasons. To everyone's surprise he IS healthy and is playing amazing and producing on a mediocre team at a 0.67 PPG pace.

Put aside the trade value from the offseason when his status was uncertain and accept that he is healthy again and he becomes a very valuable player.

Monahan can also be seen as a rental though. So trading Monahan or Severson at the TDL if the Habs are out of the playoff picture makes sense. I would argue though that Severson will help the Habs more than Monahan if they do hope to challenge for a wildcard spot, which is what I want the team to do if they can.

Like you said, he has been injured for better part of 2 years. Playing 9 games does not supersede that.

He had left and right hip surgeries. Seems to have recovered well.

How many games do you need to see before you remove the "injured player" tag?

This is what someone who hasn't watched the Habs games would say. And frankly that's fine, I don't watch Devils games so I will certainly would miss some nuance with their players too. Monahan has been really good for the Habs this year. Yes its early but its also not a fluke either. He looks like his old self again after successful injury rehab. So just because CGY didn't want to be patient and wait to see about him / maybe they gave up early on him, isn't really what his current value is now. His value was negative before the season, it certainly isn't anymore. He might not be worth a 1st or whatnot right now but if he keeps up playing well till the TDL, he def could be. there is no reason to think he wouldn't fetch it. To be clear here, we're talking a cup contender 1st rounder or conditional 2nd rounder that turns into a 1st if he does well in the playoffs, etc.

Habs took a risk by taking on Monahan's contract but he basically turned it into a fleecing of a trade because all he really needed was to get healthy again to find his game. That was the difference between 16-17 Monahan to 20-21 Monahan. He's been unlucky with injuries the past couple years so that's been why his value has dropped but if he can show he's playing well again (which he is currently doing) and stays healthy for a lengthy amount of time here, he's a valuable asset for any team to have heading into the playoffs. Heck some rumblings the Habs may just resign him because he's been so good that's its better off having him then a late 1st. (I don't buy that but that's what some have said)

If he stays healthy, and like with anything that's a big IF obviously, he could fetch a late 1st/conditional 1st from a playoff team. He's just as good if not better than Andrew Copp was last year for example and that was basically what the Rangers paid to get him. JG Pageau and Kevin Hayes before Copp. Essentially a guy capable of playing top 6 center minutes whose defensively responsible, wins faceoffs and scores at a decent rate.

EDIT: Not advocating the trade above. I don't see the Habs/NJ doing it anyways. Just referencing Monahan's value as a player right now.

Equal to as many games he was out

Interesting perspective.

Thanks for the response.

If Monahan keeps producing and the Habs and Devils are in playoff contention near the TDL... I can see this deal happening.

Everyone is writing the Habs off, and with good reason, but I love how this team has come together. They play better as a team than the year of their cup run.

If you look at it from the lens of structuring your team for a cup run, it makes sense for both teams.

I can't see it making much sense for New Jersey, either way you want to look at it.

If the Devils are adding forwards, I would assume they add a winger over a center - their C depth chart runs Hughes-Hischier-Mercer-McLeod at this point. I could see them maybe upgrading on the wings, but if you're using Andrew Copp as a trade comp (compp?) for Monahan it doesn't make sense for the Devils. Copp was a 2nd line C who cost the Rangers a 1st/2nd+ to acquire at full cost; meanwhile, Rickard Rakell (solid 2nd line winger) cost Pittsburgh a 2nd & a prospect to come over fully retained - plus the Ducks even took back a couple of roster players from the Penguins to make it basically cap neutral. If I'm the Devils and I'm in playoff contention, that's the type of player I'm targeting.

If Jersey's out of it at the deadline, then it's easy - flip Severson for futures. Simon Nemec's in Utica and ready to come up if they want (and there's a couple other RHD that are close to NHL ready if you want to slide Nemec's deal back a year), so they can move Severson out, get back a prospect/pick package, and audition someone for RD3 during the last 20 games of the season. I guess they *could* flip Monahan out for a package similar to what they'd get for Sevo, but if they think this opening run is a mirage and they're not going to make a strong playoff push this season, why bother?

I'd argue the opposite, Severson isn't great defensively, and won't make Guhle, Xhekaj, Harris any better, and most likely wouldn't sign in Montreal without being overpaid. Savard is playing the best hockey of his career at this point, no reason to mix it up for nothing.

Monahan is working great with Dach, Caufield, Suzuki in their development.

So, I think Monahan fetches a better return than a rental defenseman, or at very worse, he stays and develops the young guys. win-win for Montreal