Sean Monahan Free Agency Press Conference | Columbus Blue Jackets (07/01/24)

believe me I am not complaining get train back home I heard know what's up Budd Oh you mean when you texted us for an 8 o00 I knew it Su Monday us opport good good how you just start your company congratulations take control right out of high school I love your stff thank the reaction some of those players when that comedian was trying to J so you guys were the best parts of the show they look like kids in church they're Mis must allow to drink wasac fny B bring a cup up at least he smiled Jes nomin for the MP what you for next year okay did you see this kid from columus his name is EV playing great tournament blue jackets.com biscuit wrote a story about Sor biscuit okay Glen you do something uh they have the first game today and I know his dad I thought was post himself they win they lost well four in a Cleveland edial we'll be able hopefully should work they should be able to put you've never done a uh put screen our Min yeah that would we can see you but someone sign Zoom three recording in ress you're from Detroit Detroit United States always a good call take question ra your hand all right thank you for coming on here today Forte then I saw your press release you answered some of these questions but when you look at what Sean M hand brings to your lineup in your dressing room what sort of things excite you about that sign well we've talked all uh since I've been here about uh adding leadership to our group and uh along with leadership add a potential of a top forward and I think we accomplished both in the in being able to sign Sean he's a you know first line centerman a great history and uh you know he also has been he's wor letters in different places he's been so I think we're what we set out to do today we accomplished um how much did it factor in the with his you relationship to to Johnny GD and in the past in Calgary it's interesting because uh at 12:02 today Mike priest and I both talked to Sean and you know he said uh columus has been a destination for his all along um you know obviously uh having Johnny here to be able to play with but you know all along he said you know this is a uh a benefit for me to have Johnny here but that's not why I came here I wanted he's got a newborn baby he's heard so much about Columbus and he wants to set up his uh home here and that's always encouraging to hear and I've said since I've been here that this is a great place to live and you see all the EX players that have come back here which shows it and you got a lot of players that are putting Stakes up here so I think uh it was a combination but I think most importantly he wanted to be in Columbus you got a couple of really young centers that have started their careers at Center Ice cylinder and fanelli how do you envision Monahan fitting into that depth and does this allow you to maybe put Boon Jenner on the wing yeah 100% it gives us a lot of flexibility U I think you know Sean probably jumps right in that number one spot and then uh you know I think Adam Falls right behind them and then you know whether we keep Boon in the middle or uh silly then you know those are great options for us as we move forward you know down the middle is the strength of your hockey team so uh we want to be you know really good in which I think we have really set up to have success uh with that middle you know and then you had curls in there you know so I think down the middle we're going to be very strong uh one of the areas when you look at the roster that you guys were kind of deep in was you know maybe depth defenseman uh Jake Bean's obviously gone and a couple other guys I think there there's four NHL defensemen on the roster right now um Christensen not not counting him are you looking at maybe adding either through free agency or something else to that or do you kind of feel pretty confident with what else is left in the system um I think we're very comfortable with what's in the system you know eoch uh you know play games here last year uh had a great run in the playoffs in Cleveland you know we want to make sure we give him an opportunity um yeah we'll probably add at least one more guy uh to the depth of the team but you know when you got uh you know rensky and uh goody and and Severson and prooff right there I mean that's a pretty good start so um you know at some point when the young players are ready we want to make sure we give them that opportunity you know just because they turn pro doesn't mean they're ready to play the NHL but you know in your che's case you know he's played some games here and he's played in the American League so I think he deserves an opportunity he he's got to make you know earn it when he comes to Camp I'm sure you're Scouts and development guys have told you about Denton matuk how do you handle him in training camp and is he maybe different than you're a check or do you allow for the possibility of him stepping right in you know I watched him in Cleveland in his first game there actually and I was very impressed when he first came up there cuz he's a very Poise and uh you can see his hockey senses off the charts and the way he passes the puck is like an NHL player saying that I'm pretty strict about making sure we do the right thing with these young players because you know I've seen a lot of young players break in the NHL too quickly and be out of the NHL in three years so we want to make sure we uh handle them right you know we'll come to camp and we'll see how uh you know how he looks and how we feel about our team and you know it's not so bad if he starts the year in American League but you know saying that you know a lot can happen between now and September uh and we'll see where we're at that point uh any update to give on Patrick l uh nothing new I wish I had something to report uh nothing new I continued to uh talk to his representation Andy Scott just about uh you know he's still in the program and uh you know keep saying that any day he's going to be out but uh that's pretty much my update Don you've gotten a lot a lot of work done since Friday has this just been a matter of you just checking the boxes and checking things off your to-do list and and when you when do you get time to to take a breath well like I said you know a couple weeks ago about the coaching search I said you know we're the only team in the NHL looking for a coach the coaches that are there today are going to be there tomorrow but we know the draft's coming up we know free agencies coming up those are a priority because we're not the the League's not going to let us move the draft because I'm not ready for it so we had to make sure we were prepared for it so um yeah it's been busy it's going to continue to be busy you know we're in the midst of starting to interview coaches uh so hopefully um here in the next while we'll get that resolved again no tight timetable on it uh you know we got Canada day today and July 4th this week so makes it maybe a little difficult for people traveling that but um you know it's it's you know the business is good I mean you know there it beats the alternative that's for sure so there nothing wrong with uh staying right here 100 yards from the arena where I live and uh be able to walk to work every day I know you were asked about how big an impact the dr's presence here had on Monahan but have you heard from Johnny in the wake of the signing have you already talked with I have not heard yet I think some people on my staff have heard but uh I personally have not heard I'm sure he probably be the day I in time I will hear from him but um I think he's excited uh in the process of signing Sean uh Curious did the uh the coaching search come up at all I mean I'm sure was that disussed and is that something that maybe other agents if you're targeting guys they're going to want to know about no you know it it it did not particular but uh his agent asked me about it uh today after uh uh I talked to Sean about 12:30 or so and I what I said before everybody's read that we're going to hire an experienced NHL coach somebody that's done this before um and that's what he conveyed to uh Sean you know it's not going to be a first year NHL coach it's certainly going to be somebody with NHL experience did they try and get names from you everybody tries to get get named for me my wife even tries to get named for me it's just not happening thank you everybody for coming out here today app we'll have Sean joining in a few moment ohy W right 4 minutes fromard there practically can try some advanced technology Haven e for okay recording in progress Sean can you hear me yep can you hear me yeah we got you so will'll uh you're you're very large on the screen right now here be like be like 12 foot Monahan here so um we'll start with some questions I'll have the reporters State their name um who they're with and then uh turn it over to them so we'll start with Aaron ports line the athletic hey Sean welcome to Columbus Aaron ports I'm with the athletic um thank you first time you've played on a team outside Canada what Drew you to Columbus other than your uh friendship with Johnny GD I mean a lot of things I think uh I mean it's not just getting outside of Canada it's uh I weighed my options it's kind of my first time experiencing I guess free agency and going through it and having a child who's just over a month old I think uh family the family side of it was a huge aspect and uh Columbus was high on my list I mean with or without Johnny so it uh it worked out and uh my family and I are very excited go ahead Ian hey Sean this is Ian Phillips I was just wondering if you've had a chance to talk to Johnny gdo yet yeah I mean I've talked to him a bunch he's uh one of my best friends my wife's great friends with his wife and uh yeah we're both excited I mean we get to play with each other again and uh it's something that I'm really looking forward to hey Sean this is Brian hedger with the Columbus Dispatch um wondering you know hearing you say that Columbus was you know right near the top regardless of whether uh you know gdo was here what are some of the things I mean it was the family obviously but do do you look at the roster as well and uh you kind of like how many young players and that kind of stuff uh they have here yeah no I think they got a really young group of uh some skilled players and also some obviously great veterans and Johnny being one of them a fantastic captain and Boon who I know um good BR who I played with and I mean all I've heard is good things from I mean past and current players that uh that live there and I think uh I mean like I said the family thing was huge for me it's uh drivable for my family to get there it's uh it's in the East it's in the same time zone I mean there's there's so many uh I mean positives about the the place and I mean I've heard nothing but great things about raising your family in in the city of Columbus go ahead pory hey Sean how much did last season mean to you after the struggles you went through with the hip and trying to be healthy to put together a full season and be as productive as you were back in your in your early years how good did that feel yeah no it was great I think uh I mean I went through obviously a bit of a grind there for for two two and a half years where I mean it was partially on me where I was trying to play through injuries and just push through it and do that because I felt like the need to play was was so important but uh yeah I mean I'm fully recovered now um this this season was huge uh my confidence is back I feel back uh back to myself I know uh how good of a player I can be and I mean I know I can be a real important piece to to help the Blue Jackets turn this around you and Johnny had some great Seasons together in Calgary I think four years in a row you were onew in scoring is that like riding a bike do you guys just fall right back into it again I think so to be honest it's uh we had a lot of chemistry I know the way Johnny plays I know uh where he's going to be and where he'd want me to be and I know when he's passing the puck so it uh he's someone that I can definitely read off of well and uh obviously a fantastic player so I mean looking forward to to sharing the ice with him again goad Dave hey Sean it's Dave metol from balet Sports Ohio welcome to Columbus and the Blue Jackets uh what what do you remember about your first what do you remember about your first NHL goal uh I mean it was it was in Columbus uh I think it was San barie through a rink wide pass over to Lee stepak stepak uh little pass off the pad off for bosski and I mean I cleaned up the rebound so it uh obvious one I'll never forget and I'm looking uh looking forward to trying to score many goals in that rink again well yeah only this time it'll be with the cannon following it what are what are your thoughts on that yeah know I mean it scared me the first few times hearing that but uh you get used to it over the years I played there quite a bit now and I mean I'm excited to to hear that go off more often than not go ahead Jeff Sean uh nice to meet you virtually here Jeff foto with bluejackets.com and just wanted to ask you you're a guy that's SW in a letter in the pass on your sweater you're going to come in and have some young Senators maybe you can mentor just how important is leadership and mentorship to someone uh like you yeah no I think it's huge I mean looking back when I was a young player and I mean you really lean on Veterans and I mean especially me as a center I leaned on older guys on the team in Calgary and you you take notes you watch the way they do things and you try and add that to your game so I mean it's important to to have good leadership in the dressing room it uh creates a good culture and I think I'm a guy that can can serve that purpose any more questions here before I take one or two from Zoom okay go ahead here go ahead Dave hey Sean it's Dave metel again just your thoughts on you're joining a team that right now does not have a head coach how much of a concern is that for you how much do you think about something like that before you sign with a new team yeah I know it's obviously different but uh I mean I chatted with Don today um I've chatted with a few other players on the team and I think uh that's potentially coming soon and um I mean talking with Don he's he's a competitive guy he wants this team to to be better right away and I mean you don't play sports to lose games so I think uh once we get a guy behind the bench here we'll get some some more information but uh I mean Don's guidance for for this team is is huge and that's also a big reason why uh why I joined Columbus okay we'll take a couple of questions from Zoom we'll go to Mike McIntyre and Winnipeg go ahead Mike hey Sean congrats on the new deal um just want to ask you about your time in Winnipeg uh just reflect on on obviously a very brief stin here and and was Winnipeg something um that you reconsidered resigning here and maybe how close did that come yeah for sure I mean I had a great time in Winnipeg I mean some great friendships uh it was a brief stint and yeah it was definitely something I was uh trying to decide on it uh it's not an easy decision and I think having a baby and and seeing how much family means to me it uh playing in the East just made a lot of sense for me to to be closer to home and um yeah I mean being in a city where it's I've heard nothing but great things to to raise your kids so it uh it's something I'm really looking forward to and obviously I had a real tough decision and I mean Winnipeg was a lot of fun there when I was there too thanks next we go to Mark shy with the hockey Riders go ahead Mark thank you hey Sean Mark shy from the hockey riters so the journey you had from Montreal till now you know you alluded earlier about the health situation so just what factors do you think led to you being able to play 83 games last season and be at a good place in your health yeah know I mean I I'm fully healthy now it uh I went through a lot where it was I was just kind of playing a play and I mean I was injured and I mean when you're doing that uh things add add up and I mean I've got everything taken care of now so I have a different routine and uh I mean I feel the best I've ever felt so it's uh I'm coming into this season I still don't think I played my best hockey not even close and I mean my confidence is back uh I think for sure I'm in the best shape of my life I mean at 29 so it uh it's an exciting time for me right now okay any other questions nope great thanks everybody thanks Sean yeah thank you recording stopped e