Blue Jackets sign Sean Monahan to five-year, $27.5 million contract

Sean Monahan bet on himself in 2023-24, and it looks like it paid off.

The Columbus Blue Jackets signed the forward to a five-year, $27.5 million contract on Monday. TSN hockey insider Pierre LeBrun was the first to report it.

Monahan is coming off a one-year, $2 million deal he signed with the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the 2022-23 season, a show-me deal the veteran center hoped would earn him a long-term contract this summer. Starting the season with 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points in 49 games, Monahan caught the attention of the league, becoming one of the more valuable trade assets ahead of the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline.

The Winnipeg Jets were willing to pay the price, acquiring the forward for a 2024 first-round pick and a conditional 2027 third-round pick.

Monahan finished the season with 26 goals and 33 assists for 59 points, his highest production since scoring 82 points in 2018-19 with the Calgary Flames.

Drafted No. 6 overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Monahan was a consistent point producer through the first six seasons of his career. Through nine years with the Flames, he scored 212 goals and 250 assists for 462 points in 656 career regular-season games.

The 29-year-old has hit the 30-goal mark three times in his career, as well as the 50-point mark six times in his career.

The Blue Jackets went 27-43-12 with 66 points last season, dead last in the Eastern Conference and the fourth-worst record in the NHL.