Anybody remember Monahan's first NHL season. He was dynamic, he lead the rush, he created for himself. I thought he was going to be right there with MacKinnon his whole career. Then Johnny came in to the league and I swear Monahan got worse, his point totals went up but individually he got lazier and lost that creativity he had the first season. Suddenly the guy didnt have to do anything himself, he just needed to get open and wait to deposit a sweet pass. I hate to say it but having those two glued to the hip has been detrimental to Monahans development imo. He was trending to be a much more rounded player when he was forced to think on his own.
Its a shame Bennett didnt turn out, having his grit with Johnny would have been perfect and could have helped to create space in the playoffs. Monahan would have have been free to lead his own line and develop his dynamic play with Tkachuck instead of standing around waiting for tap ins.
Bennett was the key to this rebuild. He may still be if he can work on his shot.
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