[CN10]

Unless he makes the team in a top 9 forward role, I feel that he should be returned to Jr. An 18 year old kid has no business playing 4th line minutes against grown men 20lbs or more heavier than them where his role will be physical. A top 10 pick like Monahan needs time to develop his offensive game at the NHL level, and you won't do that with Tim Jackman and Lance Bouma flanking you on the wings. I don't want to see another Backlund situation where he's stuck in a non-offensive role that doesn't suit his game for the first couple of years of his NHL career.

The makeup of this Flames team gives Monahan a real shot to make the team if he has a strong camp/exhibition and doesn't completely fall on his face in the first 9 games. Seeing as Stajan, Backlund, Knight, Reinhart are his competition as natural centers I feel he could realistically slot in on one of our top 3 lines. The Flames will likely be a team that has to roll three scoring lines fairly evenly as we have no real top end players to stick on a line, so he should see a fair amount of ES ice time with some 2nd unit PP/PK mixed in if he wins a spot.