Quote:
Originally Posted by TheScorpion
Here are some side-by-side comparisons that I found interesting:
Monahan drives offensive play at a much better rate than Ryan O'Reilly, who outclasses him defensively (but hey, he's not the Selke winner for no reason). Monahan is more proficient offensively than O'Reilly, with similar numbers in shot assists (passes that set up shots) but much better numbers for zone entries.
Here's the 1C from another recent SCF team:
Monahan is as good or much better at driving play in basically every way.
Once again, very comparable offensively, but in this case, Monahan is much, much better at generating plays from the defensive zone.
The much more experienced Giroux is slightly better at driving play in the offensive zone and at breaking out from the defensive zone, but it's not a league of difference by any means.
This is the best comparable, I think. Both players have displayed killer instincts in the playoffs in the past, and both players drive play at an almost identical rate in the offensive zone, with Monahan faring ever-so-slightly better. But Monahan's two-way play is substantially better than Couture's, here. He generates breakouts at a substantially higher rate.
Monahan is not some sad-sack outlier who refuses to drive play while all of his peers outclass him in that regard. Just simply stating that he "doesn't drive play" without citing any reasons for why isn't a compelling argument. Monahan is part of a very vast tier of centremen who are a shade below the elites (Crosby/Malkin, McDavid, Aho, Scheifele, MacKinnon) but who still can drive play very well and put up big numbers.
And it's not like the Flames are stuck in neutral until they find a better centre, because Gaudreau is one of the very, very best play-drivers in the entire NHL, up there with all of the guys listed in the elite tier above. |
This looks like a giant cherry picking excercise to me and comes across as super disingenuous to me.
There are 19 guys on that top 20 list not named monahan.
There are 15 players from that list that are hands down better at driving play than Monahan. Your side by side examples included 0 of 15 of them. Do a side by side example of Monahan vs anyone of the guys below.
1) Petersen
2) Backstom
3) kuznetzov
4) eichel
5) Aho
6) Malkin
7) point
8) stamkos
9) McDavid
10) Crosby
11) barkov
12) Mackinnon
13) tavares
14) Matthews
15) scheifele
Players in the top 20 list that are hands down better two way players (but not better play drivers). Your examples of Monahan being a better play driver included 1 of 2 of these elite two way players, which is a bad example, because even if Monahan was better at driving play, he's can't hold a cancel to their two way game.
16) O'Reilly
17) Bergeron
Centers in the top 20 list marginally better at driving play. Your examples included two of two of them. Seems cherry picked to me
17) Seguin
18) Giroux
Centers not included in the top 20 list that are substantially better at driving play than monahan. Your examples included 0 of 6.
19) getzlaf
20) dubois
21) kopitar
22) kreijci
23) toews
24) duchene
Guys on the top 20 list that are worse at driving play. Your examples included 1 of 1. Again, seems cherry picked to me.
1) Couture
The bottom line is that, if Monahan is a top 20 center, he's at the bottom of the list (and arguably shouldnt be on it at all) and he's not on the list because of his two way play or his ability to drive play. He's basically on it because he puts up a lot of points.