You have to keep Monahan at centre. He has been without a doubt Calgary's best offensive centre in at least a decade.
I think you give priority to the guys on the roster that are likely to be in the organization the longest. Monahan, Lindholm, Backlund and Bennett. Ryan is a better centre than I ever thought he would be, and I have absolutely zero complaints about his game. He is, however, not a young guy.
I would go with either:
Monahan
Backlund
Bennett
Ryan
Keep utilizing Bennett as a centre, and eventually with time, he will push Backlund down to the third line, if things go well. If not, well, you still have your best centres slotted for the most success in the short term and long term.
Or
Monahan
Lindholm
Backlund
Bennett
Once again, keep Bennett pushing Backlund. You have 2 scoring centres, a third line centre who is elite as a shutdown centre and is still capable of putting up good numbers, and a hard-nosed centre that you hope develops into more.
That's what I would roll with. Like Lindholm, Bennett just needs a long stretch playing with capable players to develop him as a centre. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but right now (small sample size) he is showing that it is working, and it is in the Flames' best interest to keep seeing if it works long-term or not.
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