Should we bench Monahan for a game or 2?

[Bandwagon In Flames]

I'm all for benching Monahan, because he has in fact been hurting our team. We need offense from him and he's been terrible at getting shots through. He ALWAYS holds onto the puck for too long before shooting and his shots are constantly getting deflected out of the zone and killing our momentum. Our top line has not been a top line because he's been dragging it down all season.

Monahan has scored a good 80% of his NHL goals from within 3 feet of the net. He needs to start driving back into the dirty areas and have a teammate that can dish the puck to him in tight. The guy isn't a sniper and won't be scoring many goals from 30 feet out like he's been trying to.

Give him a game off to watch from the press box. That or tell GG how to properly utilize Monahan because this crap is hard to watch.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

I know it is more exaggerated this season as he hasn't been himself to start the year, but isn't this the same thing we talk about each year with him?

In 2014-15 after 22 games, Monahan had 7 goals and 5 assists
In 2015-16 after 22 games, Monahan had 7 goals and 8 assists
In 2016-17 after 22 games, Monahan has 5 goals and 3 assists

In the first two years listed there,

Gaudreau had 3 G 12 A, and 5 G 15 A
Hudler had 8 G 10 A, 4 G 10 A

This year

Gaudreau has 5 G 6 A
Chiasson has 2 G 2 A

In terms of offensive production from his linemates, Gaudreau's production is down 5% from 2014-15 in terms of PPG (27% overall) and down 29% from last season in PPG (45% overall). The other linemate's production is down 78%, and 71% respectively.

So the fact that Monahan is down 2 goals and 3.5 assists off his pace at this point is also likely due to the fact that he has been partnered with linemates having horrible seasons as well as his usual struggles and his dealing with no training camp.

Last year, it took until his 49th game for him to get going. He had 13 G and 21 A after that point.

34 of his 63 points came in his last 32 games

The year before it took until game 44. He had 20 G 17 A after that point.

37 of 62 points came in his last 37 games.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Monahan puts up sluggish numbers until Mid/late January like the past two seasons and then pours it on at that point.

Him not playing well until the games don't matter is not a good thing in any way, shape or form.

That said, no good will come from benching him. Give him easy minutes until Johnny comes back.

Don't panic about his play until next season. It is terribad though. He's been awful.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Games still matter in January.

[polak]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Games still matter in January.

Only if other players are able to pick up the slack. No Gaudreau and Hudler to pick up the slack for Monahan and they definitely do not.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Games matter in January.
We're 4-2 in our last six and sit two points out of a Wildcard spot.

[savardandjokinen]

Don't scratch him, just lower his minutes.

[Bingo]

Gulutzan is a player's coach by all reports so we know he's not screaming at him. He's also a technical guy that is changing the team's system to be more aggressive paying more attention to the puck carrier.

I tried hard to isolate Monahan last night and I didn't see glaring mistakes.

What I did see though is a guy that isn't confronting the puck carrier at all. He's choosing a path to force the guy to pass it off before he gets to him, but isn't closing the space on that player to force the issue or force a mistake. The other issue is speed, as he tends to arrive a stride late to make a big difference as the third defender down low (as a center).

So moving him to the wing is an option.

Video to point out that he has to skate through the puck carrier from time to time to make the other team less certain of what he's doing would also help.

[polak]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Games matter in January.
We're 4-2 in our last six and sit two points out of a Wildcard spot.

We're 4-6-0 in our last 10 and still 28th the league in points per game.

We can't afford our #1 center waiting until January to wake up.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Games matter in January.
We're 4-2 in our last six and sit two points out of a Wildcard spot.

That's really misleading though when we've played more than 15% more games. Nashville is in the last spot and is 2 games over 0.500, while Calgary is 3 games under. Only team in the entire league worse is Arizona at 4 games below 0.500

[MrMastodonFarm]

It's not misleading in the slightest.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

It's not misleading in the slightest.

It is very misleading so lets stop talking about points and leave the discussion at points percentage until the games played have leveled out. The 4-2 in our last 6 is good news for sure, but we're still 3 games under .500 and therefore need to go on a 4-5 game win streak to get our points percentage to the level of a playoff team.

[cofias]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

It's not misleading in the slightest.

Troll post?

[MrMastodonFarm]

It's not misleading, I'm going to assume people aren't children and don't need their hand held through the NHL standing system and how it works.

4-2 in our last six with a very tight loss to Chicago is encouraging. They didn't play great 5on5 vs the Sabres either but it was a 5 minute collapse of sanity that cost us that game. Slowly but surely.. maybe?

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by cofias

Troll post?

That's me.

[rhino]

How about we all relax a bit? This is hockey.... entertainment, no ones life is on the line here. I am a die hard Flames fan from the day they moved here for better or worse and I love when they win and hate when they lose but by some of the posts it really consumes some of you. If it bothers you that much stop watching.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

That's really misleading though when we've played more than 15% more games. Nashville is in the last spot and is 2 games over 0.500, while Calgary is 3 games under. Only team in the entire league worse is Arizona at 4 games below 0.500

I don't think it is misleading either. Arizona can factually say that they aren't far out of the mix. Whether they, or Calgary, play well enough to make up the difference is still up for debate.

As for Monahan, it sure seems like he is laboring out there. Never the greatest skater, but now he isn't getting to the right spots offensively or defensively. When he does get the puck, he seems quick to get rid of it. I have no idea whether sitting him will help, but I think it might be an option. I don't doubt his desire to play better, but perhaps a sit down to watch the game from above could help him physically and with his positioning/system understanding. Certainly doesn't feel like he is playing himself out of it.

[wingmaker]

Originally Posted by Har-Calgary

I've always been pretty skeptical about Mony, always seems to me ppl really have to reach to defend him. The last two years my general belief is that Mony is pretty overrated by flames fans and is a fairly replaceable player, then he always goes off in the second half and makes me feel stupid for thinking that. The thing is, when he is struggling, he looks downright awful. Johnny was struggling but he still showed flashes of brilliance, Mony has basically shown nothing, IMO he's looked slightly better since Johnny's injury, a bit more poised and wanting to create, but he's still been pretty bad.

Even if he does pour it on in the second half again, which I'm starting to worry won't even happen. But even if he does, that's not good enough! He needs to be consistent, I for one would be fine if he heats up before the trade deadline and we ship him, but his price tag and term won't even make that easy.

You do realize that if Monahan put up the points in the first half as he does in the second half he would be a 50 goal scorer, right? People's expectations for Monahan are just ridiculous. Calling a 30 goal centre "replaceable" is so out to lunch.

He is really struggling right now and the teams struggles have amplified how badly he is playing. It's a confidence thing. It has happened to a million players a million times. But for whatever reason, Monahan has never won the trust of the fan base. Everyone wants to call him not as good as other centres his age despite his superior numbers. Everyone wants to give Johnny all the credit when you could argue that Monahan has had a huge impact on Gaudreau's numbers, as well. I get it. He is not a fully formed, all round centreman like a Crosby or a Bergeron. He has holes in his game. But why fans won't give the guy some slack is beyond me. Team finally has a young player who shows the promise of being a good first line centre and they turn on him at the slightest signs of trouble.

Such a weird fan base.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

It's not misleading, I'm going to assume people aren't children and don't need their hand held through the NHL standing system and how it works.

You talk about being 2 points out of a wildcard spot like we just need to win 1 more game and we're caught up.

That's not the case and you being condescending is not going to change this fact.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

You talk about being 2 points out of a wildcard spot like we just need to win 1 more game and we're caught up.

All I meant is that we're close, and playing okay here lately. If it was misleading it certainly wasn't done on purpose.

[Strange Brew]

Yeah the recent play is certainly encouraging but only meaningful if it continues for remainder of season. Otherwise I'm not of the belief that last 6 games are any better indicator than any other 6 game stretch.

As for Monahan, he is a guy IMO that is more about production than anything else and has always looked solid on the ice, but rarely a force. When he is not producing, he is not adding much. It's certainly something to be a little nervous about, as not all young players continue to progress.