Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
Remember how during the entire Iginla era all we clamoured for was a number one centre?
Does Sean Monahan as Iggy's centre move the needle from Langkow or Conroy?
I do not believe so. In fact I'd argue there are areas he brings even less to the table than those two.
No one was silly enough to claim Conroy or Langkow to be number one centres, and they had some productive seasons in that role. Conroy even took us on our deepest playoff run.
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I disagree. In his heyday, Iginla did all the heavy lifting gaining possession and gaining the zone. If he was paired with a centre with a touch for scoring and for cleaning up the garbage in front of the net, I think it would have taken Iginla's scoring to the next level. And Iggy elevated his game even more in the playoffs, unlike Gaudreau, who is already playing at 100% of his maximum potential in the regular season. With #12 putting Monahan on his back and dragging him into the playoffs, the playoff scoring drop-off would have been considerably less than it has been for the Flames' current iteration, if there had been any drop-off at all.
Make no mistake, it would still be Iggy who would be driving that line, but with a partner who could actually put the puck in the net on a regular basis, the Flames' legend would have been the top scorer in the league more than once.