Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
Strictly speaking Monahan hasn't proven he is on the level of Seguin, Scheifele, Toews, Kopitar, Bergeron, Getzlaf, Stamkos, RyJo, Eichel, Matthews, etc to the point where we should give up trying to develop someone who could well be better than him in that role. Bailing on Bennett so soon would be foolish given how middling Monahan is relative to the competition. It's possible Monahan elevates his game to the levels of the above guys, but just as possible Bennett overtakes him as he finds his strength and offensive confidence.
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Monahan ain't flashy, won't wow you wtih speed/dekes/etc (like a seguin, getzlaf, etc), won't wow you in the ability to seemingly take a team on his shoulders (toews, kopitar, getzlaf), but here's a list of the top centers in the league point wise over the last 3 seasons:
1. Crosby (108,150,258)
2. Backstrom (61, 173, 234)
3. Tavares (99, 123, 222)
4. Seguin (96,126, 222)
5. Pavelski (104,112, 216)
6. Getlaf (53, 153, 206)
7. Malkin (88,112,200)
8. Giroux (61,137,198)
9. Thornton (42,155,197)
10. Scheifele (76, 116, 192)
11. Johansen (54, 138,192)
12. Carter (84, 106,190)
13. Kopitar (53, 137, 190)
14. Monahan (85,98, 183)
15. Toews (77, 105, 182)
16. Sedin (44,134, 178)
17. Bergeron (76, 100, 176)
18. Spezza (65, 110, 175)
19. Kuznetsov (50, 123, 173)
20. O'Reilly (58, 112, 170)
He's right up there with the Kopitars, toews, and in the top 14 Centers in points in the leauge. If we look at goals, he's got the
7th heighest total among this list over the last 3 years.
As far as i'm concerned, a "bonafide #1C" is not the biggest gap on this team. Having a solid scoring 1-2 punch from C is what is needed, amongst other things (starting goaltending, some physical presence that can contribute, etc). Monahan is just fine as our #1 Center.