The Calgary Flames’ rebuild began unceremoniously on Mar. 27, 2013 when they traded Jarome Iginla to Pittsburgh, but the real work began on Jun. 30, 2013 at the NHL Draft. At sixth overall, with the first of their three first-round selections, the Flames selected Sean Monahan.
On Thursday afternoon, Monahan’s tenure with the Flames ended when he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for cap space. It’s hard to overstate how important Monahan was to the Flames during his tenure.
If Monahan wasn’t as good as he was, especially early on, Flames’ history probably looks a lot different.