Monahan is a far more well-rounded player than Yakupov. Yaks may produce more points in his peak seasons (not by significantly much, imo) but he will continue to be a one-dimensional defensive liability through most of his career. Monahan may be a 20-25 goal / 60 point center, but like the centers on some of the recent cup champions, he'll do the job at both ends of the rink, win faceoffs, and be a leader. He has the intangibles and hockey sense for the 200 ft game that I think Yakupov will never have. Yaks will be relied upon for production, yet I don't even see him topping out at Kovalchuk's numbers. Monahan will be relied on for so much more, though. For those reasons, I think Monahan is a more valuable prospect and player. Whether that means he would be picked ahead of Yakupov would be unclear, as some top drafting teams would still seek out the guy with the best nose for the net, regardless.
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