Everyone attempting to chase Monahan and Gaudreau out of town for a bad series is an emotional response to a disappointing playoff. Monahan is by no means a perfect player, but he is one of the best poachers in the league, which I think is a role the Flames absolutely need. He is 0.65 PPG & 0.4 GPG in 20 payoff games and was one of the best players in the 2017 Anaheim series. Johnny is among the most creative puckhandlers in the game and is also at 0.65PPG in his 20 playoff games. These are reasonable top 6 numbers (albeit not elite) and these guys are young enough that they can still learn how to break out in the playoffs. I think this year was a tough learning experience in that when you come into the playoffs as the favorite, teams have specifically game planned how to stop you and you need to be able to play a different game than in the regular season.
The lack or adjustments to Colorado's defensive strategy is the main culprit for the first line's lack of production. Bednar saw a way to slow the Flames down offense (converge on Gaudreau as he gains the blue line) and Peters did not shuffle personnel to respond. Colorado was forcing Johnny to dump it in (which he refused to do), and Monahan is not a great fore checker. This is where Peters should have moved Lindholm or Backlund with Gaudreau at center, or tired Bennett at center on that top line, to give Johnny the option to dump it in and have players that could actually go get it back.
I don't think Calgary's problem is rot within its core players. This team is built on its depth (having several nearly elite players who have to be combined properly) and not a couple elite talents that can run roughshod over people no matter who they play with. Personally, it looks like they are always missing one key piece that allows them to put everything together at the correct time. In the 2015 Anaheim series they were simply not as good of a team and the clock struck midnight on their Cinderella run of a season. In 2017 they were missing a goalie. This year, they were missing that strong fore checking center who could be paired with Gaudreau when the opposition took his stop up after gaining the blue line play away. What is especially frustrating is that the coaching staff didn't even try to see if we had it (Gaudreau - Lindholm - x or Gaudreau - Backlund - x or Gaudreau - Bennett - x).
As for improvements that can be made, I think Treliving looks at moving Brodie and/or Frolik for an upgrade/re-tool to the forward group as we have younger players that look ready to fill their role. Jankowski is someone that could be used as a sweetener with either of those guys and if so, we should see what they have with Lindholm or Bennett as a center. I don't think Neal is going anywhere as probably nobody will take him. They have to find a way to get some value out of the cap hit, so here's hoping he comes back next year with a renewed fire to score and the coaching staff can find a better fit for him in terms of line mates. I think for him to be successful he needs a quicker center than Jankowski. I also don't think we move Gaudreau or Monahan unless a deal comes up with such a return that you simply have to make the trade, but I absolutely think we should not be chaining them together at ES all the time.
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