Quote:
Originally Posted by Monahammer
We can't deal Monahan unless Bennett or Dube pose a legit threat of posting 30 goals and can sniff PPG potential.
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There's a real chicken-and-egg element at play here, though.
How many 30 goal scorers or PPG players do not play on their team's top powerplay?
Heck look at how productive Lindholm was in Carolina. That's hardly Monahan levels of productiveness. Why? Because he did not play on his team's top powerplay.
Or if you want to talk about the best player in the NHL... even he needed his team to trade Matt Duchene away before he really took off.
So what we're stuck at is this:
We can't deal Monahan until someone else shows he can do what Monahan can do.
No one else can show he can do what Monahan can do, unless we... deal Monahan.
It's such a catch-22.
Am I advocating that we move Monahan for no reason? No.
Am I saying those other two players are locks to replace Monahan's production? No.
But I am saying that this team is stuck in this catch-22 because Monahan is productive. The problem is that Monahan is "only" productive. Ideally you want centres who are
more than just productive.
Personally, there's a big part of me that thinks a true rebuild is the only way out of that catch-22. If Dube or Bennett or Zary or whoever else explodes in the absence of Monahan, great (look no further than Backlund who didn't become productive until the team decided to rebuild) if not, you find that championship calibre number one centre through the draft.
I hate the treadmill.