Breaking Down Conditions In Monahan Trade

The Montreal Canadiens acquired Sean Monahan and a conditional 1st round pick in 2025 from the Calgary Flames, and boy, are there a lot of conditions on that 1st round pick.

Nobody expected the Montreal Canadiens, who sat at 248,000$ under the salary cap with Kirby Dach left to sign, would be the team the Calgary Flames would partner with to move Sean Monahan’s contract to. However, to get general manager Kent Hughes to take on Monahan’s $6.3 million cap hit, Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving included a conditional 2025 1st round draft pick, and boy, are there a ton of conditions.

The issue with all these conditions is that it also involves two other previously traded 1st round picks from the Florida Panthers. They traded their 2024 1st round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers prior to the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline in a package to acquire Claude Giroux, and then traded their 2025 1st round pick to the Flames this summer in a package for Matthew Tkachuk. Each of those picks came with their own conditions;

Florida’s 2024 1st round pick: If the pick is a top-10 selection at the time of the 2024 NHL Draft, the Flyers would instead receive the Panthers’ 2025 1st round pick and the Flames would receive the Panthers’ 2026 1st round pick.

Florida’s 2025 1st round pick: If this pick were to be a lottery pick (1st or 2nd overall), Calgary would instead receive the Panthers’ 2026 1st round pick.

Making Sense Of This For The Montreal Canadiens

As if that net of conditions wasn’t already complicated enough, Hughes and Treliving then proceeded to construct the most convoluted conditional trade tree ever seen, as there are no less than six different outcomes to go over. Let’s break down the options below, but over time:

2024

• If Calgary’s 2024 1st round pick falls between 20 and 32 inclusively, Montreal will have up to 48 hours before the 2024 NHL Draft to decide to take this pick

2025

Scenario A: If Calgary receives Florida’s 2025 1st round pick:

• If NEITHER of Calgary or Florida’s 2025 1st round picks are Top-10, Montreal will receive the better 2025 1st round pick.
• If Calgary’s pick is in the top-10 and Florida’s is not, Montreal gets Florida’s 2025 1st round pick.

Scenario B: If Calgary does not get Florida’s 2025 1st round pick:

• If Calgary’s 2025 1st round pick isn’t in top-10, then Montreal will receive Calgary’s 2025 1st
• Montreal will receive an additional 2024 4th round pick if:
  • Florida’s 2025 1st round pick isn’t a top-10 pick
  • Florida’s 2025 1st rounder has been transferred to another club (to Flyers or traded after lottery win)
  • Florida’s 2025 1st round pick has a higher draft position than Calgary’s 2025 1st round pick
• If Calgary’s 2025 1st round pick is 2nd to 10th overall, Montreal receives Calgary’s 2025 1st round pick
• If Calgary’s 2025 1st round pick is a 1st overall pick, Montreal gets Calgary’s 2025 3rd round pick and the better of Calgary or Florida’s 2026 1st round pick.