I have no analytics, no nothing to back up this quasi-opinion, but could it just be that Monahan hasn't changed at all, and the game has? Is the game simply being played at a faster pace because the MacKinnons and McDavids are driving it that way?
Monny isn't the slowest guy, but he's not the fastest either. If the Flames are built with guys like Monahan and Tkachuk, then they have line after line that just isn't fast enough to compete, to play effectively on both ends of the ice. Bennett's another.
Mangiapane and Dube have another gear, Johnny is tricky, he's not super fast but he's quick. But the rest of the team is still ploddish. Add Gio slowing down this year, Tanev instead of a fleet-footed Brody... and the defense isn't skating where it was either (and I'd suggest Rasmus has taken a step away from his best game too, seems eager to get rid of the puck rather than skate with it).
Monahan has never been an elite center, he's been good, and he's worked on important stuff - faceoffs and defense. But I agree, he hasn't looked "right" in a long while.
If that's so, then the Flames really look like a team built from complimentary pieces. There is no "core" right now.
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