[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

When Monahan is on, he is a great top line center, probably top 10 in the league. He tends to run hot and cold throughout a season though, and when he's cold offensively, he's not exceptional in most other categories to make up for the drop in offense. Right now, Monahan is ice cold.

I see it differently with Backlund. I believe he elevates Tkachuk's game and covers up his inadequacies with skating, stick-handling, and offensive creation. Backlund does a lot of heavy lifting on his line at BOTH ends of the ice, it's just that Tkachuk is an exceptional finisher, especially down low. Frolik's drop in offensive play this year has hurt that line more than anything. Plus, Backlund kills penalties with the best of them, produces on the 2nd PP unit, and provides leadership and character for the room. He's a vital piece to the make up of the team.

Hamilton is still an exceptional top pairing defenseman. He puts up a lot of points, and produces a lot of offensive chances. Yes Giordano does the yeoman's share of defensive play, but that doesn't mean Hamilton doesn't contribute defensively. I liken the situation to what I see in Florida: Ekblad is the defensive stalwart on the top pairing, and adds some offense, but he needs a good offensive partner in Yandle to make an effective pair. Put Giordano with a different defenseman, and I'm not sure the same results are there, especially with the decline in Brodie's play. I think if you put Hamilton with Hamonic, most of the same results would be there.

The team does have a good core, but there's little in terms of quality complimentary pieces on this team. Fill that in, and this team will do much better in the future.

Backlund is probably the 2nd most important forward on this team.

Your last statement is probably true. That's not a good thing.