Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman on Montreal Canadiens forward Sean Monahan and how the New York Rangers could be interested in the center.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Ron McLean: “We were saying in the first intermission tonight also on that podcast, Sean Monahan has had a great week in the NHL, he might be coveted by some teams that are in contention for the Stanley Cup. And the question you and Jeff had is, would a team get a first-round and throw it to Montreal in exchange for Monahan If Monahan can not play in the top six? First of all, maybe he’s playing well enough that he is top six wherever he goes, maybe elaborate on Monahan.
Friedman: “Well the thing is, he’s, Monahan has enormous respect around the league for how much he’s come back from. Like this was a guy who a couple of years ago, people were thinking, you know, is he going to be able to continue playing? Not only is he playing, but he’s thriving. He’s approaching 35 points this year.
And I think that’s one of the big questions that teams are asking right now is, how high in your lineup for a contender do you need Monaghan to play? And I think one of the teams that people are looking at is another one of our teams on Hockey Night tonight and that’s the New York Rangers.
The Rangers were already looking for a center, and now they may have to look for two. Filip Chytil was reinjured yesterday. We wish them all the best. It doesn’t sound great. So I do think a lot of, a number of teams are wondering if Monahan is very much on the Rangers radar. The big challenge there is is there isn’t a lot of love lost between the two front offices, the Canadiens and the Rangers. So will it be a complicated deal to do between them?
McLean: “Another thing that happened this week, Steve Staios had a tremendous press conference Thursday morning and he talked about seeking pro, so what’s he seeking?
Friedman: “Well, there’s one pro whose name came across my desk in the last 24 to 48 hours and that’s Chris Tanev of the Calgary Flames. And it makes a lot of sense, a lot of sense. Like when you talk about pros in the NHL Tanev is one of the top names you’d come up with and he makes perfect sense for a guy to be on Ottawa’s radar and he is.
Now I, I don’t know what the possibilities of this, this time. I think Chris Tanev would probably prefer a playoff scenario this year. For this year the Senators are not a playoff team. We’ll see about the future but I do think he’s one of the names on their radar.