Ferland is pretty terrible on the top line, he looks two steps behind Monahan and Gaudreau in both zones. Defensively he was confused when the Devils opened the scoring. Was happy he was taken off that line for the 2nd and 3rd periods so kind of baffling to see him slated to go back there but Hartley doesn't have a tonne of choices at the moment I suppose.
It's hard to place Monahan's troublse though. He looks frustrated at times. His shooting percentage is down slightly, but not bad, still on pace for 26 goals. His face off percentage is on the wrong side of 50% but again, only slightly. For a 21 year old all his stats are pretty impressive IMO, we just haven't seen the type of jump we did from season one to season two.
Bennett and him are perfect compliments to each other though and any struggles long term Monahan has Bennett makes up for it as the 1-2 punch. Monahan isn't a dynamic offensively and his size is used for positioning, while Bennett is a highlight reel and a bully physically. Monahan compliments Bennett as well, at 21 Monahan is already a Selke capable player.
Eventually we'll see Bennett supplant Monahan as Gaudreau's center, or if the Flames are lucky enough to draft one of Laine and Puljujarvi we'll be set on our top lines, filling in the gaps with support players like Froik.
Gaudreau - Bennett - Frolik
Laine - Monahan - Puljujarvi (one of, don't get greedy)
Emile Poirier has been playing better lately, five points last three games, Calgary could really use a strong push by Emile to finish the season and make the team next year.
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