Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving has been a very busy man this off-season but a couple big items remain on his to-do list: re-signing Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau.
The former appears closer to a contract extension than the latter and the preference is unsurprisingly a long-term deal over a bridge contract.
On if he’d prefer a bridge deal, or a longer-term contract:“I definitely want to be there for a long time. I would prefer a longer-term contract, but that’s not up for me to decide. I want to be there. I want to be in Calgary for the rest of my career, so that’s something I’m looking forward to doing.…
This isn't exactly shocking news but a long-term contract is absolutely the way to go here.
At 21 years of age he is at least a couple years away from his prime and he has already proven to be a high-end goal scorer and point producer.
He has scored at least 22 times in each of his first three seasons and has averaged 29 goals/63 points over the last two years.
It's more likely he trends up than down in the coming years so a bridge deal makes absolutely no sense. If the Flames were to get frustrated with long-term discussions and give Monahan a two-year deal, for example, they'd be forced to pay him even more down the road if there is any sort of spike in his production.
Even if Monahan's ceiling is a consistent 25-30 goal, 60+ point getter he is still worth the $6 million and change he is going to get.
There's more risk than reward in waiting to commit to Monahan, which is why the two sides seem set on finding a long-term solution.