Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
The problem with Monahan is that he plays with Gaudreau. Gaudreau likes to carry the puck a lot, but Monahan is quite good at this himself. Monahan can drive his own line very easily, and I have often expressed this opinion.
Kadri is NOT going to improve that top line. Absolutely not. He is not more dynamic than Monahan. Monahan's ability to create plays is at a very high level, he is just the complete anti-Edmonton type of player in that he never does toe drags, so he doesn't look flashy. What he does is consistently makes the right decisions in the offensive zone, and is incredibly underrated as a playmaker and as a guy you can safely rely on for zone entries. He just happens to play with Gaudreau who is very flashy, and who loves handling the puck.
Lindholm needs to be tried at centre. I will also argue that Bennett - if given decent enough linemates (not named Brouwer or Neal) - can function as a really good centre if given the rope to grow into it.
At the very least, acquiring a good #2 centre is NOT an impossible task, especially given that the Flames are deep defensively and this is what you often see being traded for #2 defencemen. #1 defencemen - of which Monahan is unquestionably one of - is what is very difficult to acquire.
As for Monahan not having a particularly good playoffs, well, so what honestly? Take a look at the Pens. As someone who loves hockey pools, let me tell you about taking Crosby or Malkin - but not both - in the playoffs. Often the opposing team finds a way to neutralize ONE of them, but not both. I know this very well since I lost a playoff pool one year despite having a healthy lead and going into it with Crosby - and in that final series Malkin was the beneficiary of inadequate depth on the defensive side of things and blew past Crosby (and me in the pool).
There may not be anything wrong with the Flames on paper, actually. This could just be growing pains as they mature as a team. I would like to add a higher scoring #2 center, I would like to add some more grit to this team as long as it is wrapped up with some skill and speed as well. However, maybe this team is just an inexperienced young team, and they just got rattled by the pushback of the 'easy 8th seed'.
Tampa lost in 4 straight. I don't imagine they have made drastic changes (other than trying to solve their cap issues). They just had a bad playoffs, even though they are a more mature team than Calgary.
I just saw a team that got out-coached and rattled in the playoffs. That's all. This isn't a team you blow up and start the rebuild over, or trade the #1 centre (a bona fide #1 centre by the way!) because he hasn't performed well this past playoffs. Those are knee jerk reactions that guarantee you do worse in the short term, but without any guarantee in the slightest that you are going to find a way to improve on Monahan long-term.
If the salary cap allowed it, I would be 100% confident in having the exact same team returning for a year and see what they could do with a bit more experience. Doesn't mean that there aren't holes on the team, but this team is a very strong team even with their holes, and those holes are neither impossible nor unrealistic to fill (size/grit/depth and a #2 centre capable of pushing Backlund down).
An alternate to this is that maybe you just need to acquire a strong #3 centre who is really good defensively, and utilize Backlund more in the offensive zone. I mean, Backlund is absolutely magical in his ability to generate offence even though he is often buried in usage. Maybe if you offload some of that defensive zone utilization, you would see a marked improvement in the 2nd line scoring?
|