[djsFlames]

There's arguably less of a gap between NCAA and pro than the CHL and pro, and Johnny was the best player in the NCAA in a decade or more, and well beyond that league. Monahan needed 0 AHL games to make the transition from the OHL to NHL as an every day player who could produce in the league, just as I think Johnny is as good and can do just the same.

If the AHL were a necessity for every player then we might as well ship Monahan down to Addy to get an "acceptable" amount of AHL games under his belt. Well no, because not all players need it. Johnny back checks better than the vast majority of kids that come in to compete for spots, and certainly better than Sven. It's only a small weakness in his game, and not nearly as big of a weakness as it is with other prospects. I think that area of his game can be brought up to snuff under the Flames coaching staff just fine. He's so smart on the ice already, and shows that he's willing to learn, that it will hardly take any time at all to catch on. I mean the kid is already stripping the puck off opposing players nightly, perhaps even more than our other experienced forwards.