Monahan has been a huge surprise. Though he was a 6th overall draft pick in 2013, the last 2 years he produced a meager 51 points in 115 games. I would still trade him because the goal is not to make the playoffs, but to build for the future with draft picks and with a possible shot at Conor Bedard next year.
Monahan’s production decreased because he was playing injured over the past two seasons. Various injuries including to his hips which is why he finally underwent surgery to both hips during the offseason which caused him to miss a good part of this season’s training camp. This season has been the first time he’s been healthy in at least two years or more.
After watching the habs play several times this season there is no chance they’ll be in a position to draft Bedard or that American kid Fantilli whom several scouts would draft ahead of Bedard. The habs habe too good of a team to finish near the basement. Last year’s poor play was likely an aberration. I doubt the habs will make the playoffs since the Eastern Conference is too strong but i expect them to finish somewhere between the 20th & the 25th overall position. What the habs could do is package several first round picks in order to improve their drafting position (say 3-5) but i doubt the teams in the first two positions would go for it. This happens a lot in the NFL & NBA but very rarely in the NHL.
The players they’d currently like to get rid of won’t get them as much as they’d hope for & a player like Gallagher has an untradeable contract. A team willing to take on such a bad contract would not only need the cap space to accomodate it but the habs would need to cover a good chunk of the money owed to him. But more importantly the price the habs would need to pay likely in the form of first round draft picks & possibly top prospects would be a no-no from the habs perspective.
If the habs were dead serious about having a realistic chance at drafting Bedard they would have kept Dom Ducharme instead of firing him in the middle of last season.