Quote:
Originally Posted by Crown Royal
Unless we improve our top end depth, we aren't going to get better. Trading Monahan and making Lindholm, who has never had a full season at C in the NHL your #1C just because you think Backlund should be on the 2nd line is nothing but a recipe for disaster.
Backlund as a #3 is an ideal situation. Much like when Staal was the #3 in Pittsburgh.
Gaudreau - Monahan - ?
Tkachuk - Lindholm - ?
? - Backlund - ?
Unfortunately keeping Backlund like this means we wouldn't be able to afford Hall, so maybe Josh Anderson might be an option. But those question marks would be filled with Dube, Mangiapane, Bennett and either a FA signing or trade acquisition.
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Actually, I thought the 2 best centers for the Flames this season was Lindholm in the first half and then Backlund in the second half. Actually, Backlund had a run in February/March where he actually looked like one of best centers in the league. The line of Tkachuk-Backlund-Mangiapane was also the best line this team had this season. These are the main reasons why I’d go with a 1A-1B combo of Lindholm-Backlund.
I don’t see any scenario in which we see the pair of Gaudreau-Monahan back next season. They weren’t very good together in the regular season and were even worse in the playoffs. Monahan had a hard time elevating his play against the likes of Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp. Then in the Dallas series, they threw Radek Faksa out there against Monahan and he ended up 2 assists in 6 games. That’s a big reason why this team was ousted by the Stars, the top line was invisible all series long.
So like I said before, unless Treliving finds a way to add a true, elite #1 center (unlikely), I foresee Lindholm playing up the middle next season because if all this team does is trade Gaudreau add Hall; it’ll probably end up in another disappointing first round exit as a first line of Hall-Monahan-Lindholm line isn’t much different than the current first line that hasn’t gotten it done in half a decade.
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