The Blue Jackets have announced that the Columbus chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association has nominated Blue Jackets center Sean Monahan for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The award is given annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

Monahan, 30, has recorded 18 goals and 32 assists with a +15 plus/minus rating, while averaging 19:17 TOI per game. He leads Columbus in points per game (1.02), ranks third in assists and plus/minus rating and is fourth in points. His point total is the second-highest of his career.

Signed by the Blue Jackets as a free agent on July 1, 2024, the Brampton, Ontario native has registered 262-326-588 in 813 career games with the Blue Jackets, Winnipeg Jets, Montreal Canadiens, and Flames over 12 NHL seasons. He was Calgary’s first pick, sixth overall, in the 2013 NHL Draft.

Monahan has had a wonderful season statistically all while enduring the loss of his best friend, Johnny Gaudreau, who passed away last August while he was riding his bicycle near his boyhood home. It was Gaudreau who suggested that the two play together again in Columbus after being on the same successful line in Calgary.

Regarding playing in Columbus almost a whole season without Gaudreau, Monahan told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, “I came here for a reason, and that was taken away. It’s been a whirlwind. But I feel like I’ve played here in Columbus for more than a year, to be honest. … And it feels like I’m supposed to be here.”

The winner of the Masterton Trophy is selected by a poll of the 32 chapters of the PHWA at the conclusion of the regular season. The trophy was first presented by the NHL writers in 1968 in honor of the late Bill Masterton, a player for the Minnesota North Stars who exhibited the qualities for which the trophy embodies. Last season’s winner was Connor Ingram of the Arizona Coyotes (now Utah Hockey Club).