With just two games remaining in the Calgary Flames’ 2023–24 season, it’s time to start looking to the offseason and next steps. The Flames’ roster is very much in flux, as the team balances rebuilding with icing a competitive team. One of the biggest question marks for the team will be down the middle of the ice as the Flames look to solidify the position before the next generation is ready to take over.
It just so happens there will be a 29-year-old centre available in free agency who’s quite familiar with Calgary and could be a nice short-term answer. Here’s why re-uniting with Sean Monahan makes a ton of sense for the Calgary Flames.
The Flames’ centre depth chart is weak
After trading Elias Lindholm in February, the Flames’ complete lack of depth down the middle of the ice was made more clear than ever. It’s not a stretch to say the Flames don’t have a single top-six centre in the organization under the age of 30 right now. It’s dire down the middle of the ice, to say the least. With no obvious candidates in the prospect pool either, getting Monahan back for a couple of years as a stopgap could make a ton of sense.
Here’s a look at the centres the Flames have under contract for the 2024–25 season in the NHL and AHL. I didn’t list Yegor Sharangovich or Connor Zary as both have primarily played on the wing this season, although Zary moving to centre next year would go a long way in shoring up the depth chart.
| Centre | Age (As of October 2024) | Years remaining on contract |
|---|---|---|
| Nazem Kadri | 34 | 5 |
| Mikael Backlund | 35 | 2 |
| Kevin Rooney | 31 | 1 |
| Clark Bishop | 28 | 1 |
| Rory Kerins | 22 | 1 |
| Sam Morton | 25 | 1 |
Yikes. The only NHL-level primary centres in the organization and under contract for next season right now are above 30 years old, and the team’s top two centres are both entering the second half of their 30s. Credit where it’s due Nazem Kadri has had an incredible season, but past him, it gets rough—and rough fast.
Mikael Backlund continues to chug along as a dependable two-way centre but at 35 and entering the final years of his career, he’d be much more suited more in a third line role as Father Time will catch up with him any year now. Past Backlund, you’ve got Kevin Rooney who was on waivers just a year ago and would likely line up as your third line centre next season assuming Zary stays on the wing. Not ideal.
Then there’s a group of AHLers in Clark Bishop, Rory Kerins, and Sam Morton, none of which have much potential and all likely top out as fourth line centres in the NHL. The depth off the jump is poor but if the Flames were to experience any injuries to Kadri or Backlund they’d be in massive trouble trying to fill top-six centre roles in the NHL.
Lastly, only Backlund and Kadri are even under contract past next season, giving the organization plenty of room to add a short-term stop gap like Monahan to fill in for the next couple of years.
Monahan looks like his old self
No one will deny that Monahan’s finals seasons in Calgary were less than ideal. Monahan’s play fell off a cliff following his breakout 2018–19 season and due to a plethora of injuries he was never able to bounce back. By his final season in Calgary in 2021–22, he was playing bottom-six minutes and had just eight goals and 23 points—the worst season of his career by a large margin.
Fast forward three years and Monahan is finally healthy again and showing everyone that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank.
Top 40 production
Monahan is currently on track for his best season since that legendary 2018–19 season, once again looking like his old self. Here’s a look at his production this year and where he ranks league-wide among centres.
| Stat | Sean Monahan | League rank among centre’s |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 26 | 29th |
| Assists | 33 | 36th |
| Points | 59 | 36th |
| PP Goals | 9 | 25th |
Across the board, Monahan is producing like a top 40 centre right now. That’s a remarkable turnaround for a player who failed to eclipse 50 points for his final three years in Calgary. Without a doubt, the largest reason for that is his health. Monahan has finally been able to stay healthy this season and the points have come with it. When he’s healthy, he’s a very solid second line centre with the production to prove it.
For context, Monahan has played in 81 games this season. The last time he logged that many games in one year was all the way back in 2016–17 in just his fourth year in the league. Since then he failed to hit 80 games in six consecutive seasons, missing an average of 15 games a season.
Monahan’s finishing is back
Another aspect of Monahan’s game that has come around recently is his finishing. Throughout his final couple of seasons in Calgary, his goal-scoring fell off a cliff as he struggled to finish. Now healthy and back to his old ways, Monahan has finally started to show the finishing touch he had to start his career.
This season Monahan is shooting 17%, which may seem high until you consider his percentages throughout his career. During his first six seasons in Calgary, Monahan was a 15.1% shooter, which ranked as the highest of any Flame during that time span. When his downfall began in 2019–20, his shooting percentage crumbled.
Between 2019–20 and 2021–22, Monahan shot just 10.7%. This of course tied into his dramatic fall from grace that saw him fail to score more than 10 goals in a season during his final three years as a Flame.
Looking at his shooting history courtesy of hockeyviz.com, you can clearly tell that his dip in production between 2019 and 2022 was an outlier and not the norm. This season he’s once again scoring at the same rate he did early in his career before the injuries caught up to him.
A great story to be told
Lastly one of the reasons signing Monahan in the offseason would be a great idea is simply because it’d be a great story off the ice. This is an organization and fan base that hasn’t had a whole lot to cheer for recently, and likely won’t for the next couple of years. Bringing back a beloved fan favourite and one of the best Flames of the 2010s in Monahan would bring a big-time spark to a fan base dealing with a rebuild.
When you’re a rebuilding team like the Flames, bringing in veterans on short-term contracts is a great way to insulate your core group of young players. How awesome would it be to see Monahan take the likes of Matt Coronato, Zary, Jakob Pelletier and Sam Honzek under his wings and show them the ropes? He’s beloved in the city, was always well-liked in the room, and was a leader from the day he first put on the Flames jersey.
Taking it a step further, Backlund is currently set to see his contract expire in two years when he turns 37 years old. Assuming he retires or moves on, there’ll be an open spot as captain of the Flames as they usher in their new era. Monahan wore an “A” in Calgary for seven seasons and was one of their key leaders throughout his tenure before being dealt. Just saying.
A win-win scenario
There really aren’t many negatives to bringing Monahan back this offseason. He wouldn’t be blocking any younger centres from playing as the Flames don’t have any, he’d immediately become a key leader in the room, and it would bring a much-needed spark to a fan base that needs it. If he can be signed for a relatively low term and reasonable cap hit, bringing back Monahan makes a whole lot of sense.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
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