Breaking: Montreal Canadiens closing in on deal to sign Jets’ 29-year-old forward.

In a press conference on Monday, Kent Hughes stated that the Habs wanted to sign a top-6 forward as a free agency. But not for any price.

And when I say “at any price,” I mean the word, not the amount of money. Because, at that level, the Habs were still willing to provide a lucrative contract in terms of annual value.

What’s the problem? The Canadiens did not want to give away long contracts.

Hughes is the first to admit it: he understands that top players typically choose multiyear contracts. So he expected a difficult mandate.

But, as he didn’t feel the need to add a forward at any price, he was content with merely contributing what he could and seeing what happened.

The Habs were two to three years away from accepting the Predators’ five-year offer for Marchessault. We can presume the same is true for Sean Monahan, who traveled to Columbus.

Because, according to Marc Antoine Godin, the Flanelle have offered Monahan a contract. That is what the journalist said on Radio-Canada’s Tellement Hockey podcast.

With Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Christian Dvorak and Jake Evans in town, you’d think the plan for the Habs, who were (and still are, truth be told) looking for at least one winger for Kirby Dach, was to put Monahan on the former Blackhawks’ wing.

And we know that recipe worked from 2022 to 2023.

For Monahan, having a five-year contract at $5.5 million per year and the opportunity to play center in Columbus was too good to pass up.

I don’t see how Columbus could give so much to a person who is frequently injured. But it is another thing. #July1stRegrets

All that being said, we understand why Hughes took a gamble on Monahan. However, given the contract the former Flames player signed in Ohio, we can see why the Habs’ general manager passed on the deal this week, as well as why he chose to move Monahan to the Jets at the deadline.

And ultimately, it contributed greatly to the arrival of Michael Hage in the organization.