Another #1 pick traded away

The 1977-78 season in-depth review continues:

Monahan actually made a brief stop
 in Pittsburgh in between these two teams.

The Penguins hit the road for their second game of the season, losing a tight 2-1 battle against Norris Division rival Washington Capitals. While the loss surely stung, it was the self-inflicted wound the Pens endured that day that was the most painful.

The short piece accompanying this game report article describes how the Pens traded away their first round pick in the 1979 draft to Washington for a guy named Hartland Monahan. He would play a total of seven games for the Pens and score a whopping total of two goals. Pens general manager Baz Bastien would soon trade Monahan to the Kings.

The pick itself seemed to be a hot potato. The Caps would send it to Minnesota, who had the sense to keep it and use it on Tom McCarthy, a left wing who went on to have a solid career, scoring 399 points in 466 games, including 39 goals in 1983-84. He would have looked good in a Penguins uniform.