Morning Skate: Deals

Friday! The second-last Friday in August.

Enjoy it as you can, September looms.

It was an uncharacteristically busy August Thursday in NHL circles yesterday, with the kind of news/moves you usually see in July.

UFA #1 Nazem Kadri finally ended his courtship dance, signing with the Calgary Flames for a $7 million AAV.

Then, those same Calgary Flames traded oft-injured Sean Monahan to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a compensation package that took NASA analysts years to understand.

Basically, Montreal is accepting Monahan’s cap hit for this year and maybe getting a first-round pick in return? My head hurts.

The Flames are certainly this offseason’s Main Character, with the Kadri signing and Monahan trade following Johnny Gaudreau skipping town and the Matthew Tkachuk trade.

Busy summer up there in Cowtown!

Today’s discussion topic

Speaking of the Montreal Canadiens, any thoughts on their offseason thus far?

Kirby Dach could be good, but I don't see a ton of improvement over last year, nor much to add some fire back into the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry.

Plus, given the moves made by Ottawa and others, they seem to be falling further behind in the Atlantic.