I really do think people are to hard on Monahan and don't realize just how close he actually is to matching his performance from the last two years, all this while not playing in the WHC and having no pre-season/camp conditioning to go into the year, a new system and coach and no Johnny on his wing for much of the year.
Through 39 games he has 10 G and 10 A giving him just a 42 point pace over 82 games... But a lot like last year Monahan is really starting to gear up leading into the second half and just had a recent 10 game point streak though he has slid a bit going pointless in 5 games. That said if Monahan continues a pace that he has had in the past 15 games he should finish at around 55 points - not to far off from the 63 he put up last year, 62 the year before. That's 7 points away from matching his past two campaigns.
On top of that he's becoming a faceoff beast! For example the last 5 games he's gone pointless but here's a look at his faceoffs:
@ SJS 9 W 7 L - 56.3 %
vs VAN 10 W 10 L - 50 %
@ COL 11 W 6 L - 64.7 %
vs ANA 11 W 9 L - 55 %
vs PHO 8 W 7 L - 53.3 %
He's taking lots of faceoffs and averaging very well, especially since mid November and has had 10 games over 60 % a few being over 70 %.
He's starting to round into a more complete player which is why the flash he has shown in the past has been a bit absent this year but a 53% faceoff guy who puts up 30/30 numbers is a beautiful thing to have and it seems as though we almost definitely have that with Mony.
Total faceoffs so far:
This year: 373 W / 333 L / 52.8 % | pace: 784 W / 700 L / 52.8 %
Last year: 887 W / 853 L / 51 %
2nd year: 902 W / 917 L / 49.6 %
1st year: 476 W / 560 L / 45.9 %
A slight dip year over year in the amount of faceoffs taken but I think that's a nod to Bennett/Backlund growing and stepping up in their respective roles.
Really great to see Mony continue to progress in the important areas of the game!
Last edited by Heavy Jack; 01-01-2017 at 06:05 PM.
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