[JJ1532]

Let's analyse this idea that Monahan relies on Gaudreau for production shall we? I went back through Monahan's points totals for the last 2 seasons that they've played together and these are the results:

Monahan's points that had nothing to do with Gaudreau:

34 goals(+22 from rookie season)
36 assists(+12 from rookie season)

Thats 70 points(plus the 34 his rookie season) that he's put up without any contribution from Gaudreau. Ok, they might have been on the ice together and Gaudreau might have played some part, but fact is, these goals and assists came without the direct impact of Gaudreau, more or less.

Monahan's points totals that were assisted by Gaudreau:

27 goals
6 assists

Ok, fair point, of the 83 goals Monahan has scored in his career to date, 27 have come either directly from Gaudreau, or Johnny got a secondary assist. But that's a 3rd. So, 2 thirds have come away from Gaudreau. Also, of the 164 points Monahan has in his career to date, only 33 of them have come from Gaudreau.

The time's Monahan assisted Gaudreau:

27 assists

Yep, Monahan has been helped out by Gaudreau 33 times. However, he's been the one setting up Gaudreau(either primary assists or secondary assists with Gaudreau getting the primary assist) 27 times.

Conclusion is, yes Gaudreau has helped set Monahan up for 27 of his 61 goals since they started playing together. However, whilst Monahan has got 33 points from Gaudreau, he has also set up Gaudreau just as often.

So, could you make the argument that Gaudreau needs Monahan just as much as the opposite? Yes. The argument that Monahan needs Gaudreau is nonsense imo. I would say that Monahan is a 20 goal scorer without Gaudreau, but turns into a 30 goal scorer with him. Nothing wrong with that. Those 2 will play together for a long time. They understand each other very well and assist each other in equal measure. Barring injuries or other unforeseen circumstances, those 2 should hopefully give us 80/60 points seasons consistently over the next 5 years.