Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaudreauvertime
My list of players are all U24 players. There aren't any U24 wingers I can think of who could replace Gaudreau for the next decade.
That's not to say Monahan would be easy to replace. But there are more players like Sean Monahan than there are like Gaudreau. So if push came to shove, you could consider moving Monahan for a Scheifele or Draisaitl etc. If you are going to lose Gaudreau you aren't very likely to find a young LW who can replace what he brings.
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Panarin? Tarasenko? Kucherov?
My point is that simply because comparable players exist, doesn't mean you can go out and acquire one as easily as you seem to think it is.
Toews and Kane are making the same money despite Kane scoring more. Should the Blackhawks have let him walk just because they could hypothetically replace him with Tavares or Crosby? I guess your argument just doesn't make much sense to me. Most NHL GMs agree that center is the most important position to build your team around, the position that can usually have the biggest impact on the result of the game. Toews makes what he does because he brings as much or more to the team as Kane does, though in different ways. Your list of comparable young centers was 17 names long in a league of 30 teams. Teams will not part with these players like you seem to think they will.
As much of a Johnny fanboy as I am, he is essentially bringing only one thing to the team (on the ice) - scoring. While you're right, there aren't a lot of U24 wingers with his scoring ability, scoring can come from other positions and often does. It's one of the easier parts of a hockey team to "replace".
Leadership, faceoffs, defense, physicality, IQ - all things we are hoping Monahan continues to grow and excel in - are harder to quantify but also to replace.
I think a lot of CP agrees with you, Johnny is an amazing young player.
I hope he signs an 8-year deal. We just have a problem with building the team around him, not through any fault of his, but because in the larger perspective of building and running a hockey team, it would be unwise.