[Inglewood Jack]

Because five dozen post-mortem threads aren't quite enough, figured I might as well add to the pile. Monahan discussion is spread out everywhere at the moment, but maybe he deserves his own like the Johnny thread, since he's the other face of the current rebuild that began in 2013.

When I mock re-draft his year, I end up with Monahan pretty close to where he was originally picked (6th) so by no means is he a bust or a reach compared to his contemporaries. But in my opinion his current slot in the forward lines is no longer a great match for his skillset. He's got a knack for finding space in the slot to get a quick shot off that finds its way in, not a very common skill. He's also good at draws, and is ok in the D zone most of the time (ignoring last night's bizarrely indifferent coverage).

But at his current age, I don't know how much runway there is left to add significantly to that toolbox. He'll never have great acceleration/top speed, and I doubt that dynamic puck control is something he can just pick up with offseason practice. I want my #1C to be super puck hungry, confidently entering the offensive blue line and drawing opposition to him, while being an equal threat to set up a winger or wrist it on net himself.

Short of having a McDavid/MacKinnon/Matthews/Eichel land in our lap, there's no easy solution. So what's the best option to maximize Monahan's value to the franchise going forward? Choices that come to mind:

1. Keep him as #1C (winger situation pending the fate of Johnny)

2. Drop him to #2C where QoC will be lower and his deficiences aren't as exposed. Need internal promotion, or acquiring #1C replacement via blockbuster

3. Convert to winger, which is a bit wild this far into his career, but might be a better match for what he's good at

4. Trade for either another centre (retool) or picks/prospects (rebuild)

I'm personally ok with options 2 to 4, unless we can find some sort of magical skills coach that sprinkles skating and puckhandling fairy dust. What say you, fellow fans? Hopefully a night to sleep on the rage/disgust/numbness will allow for more productive analysis and debate. Or we can continue to crack each other's heads open and feast on the goo inside, that's cool as well.