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Originally Posted by TheScorpion
^ I think that's taking things a bit too far. Monahan is still getting a good volume of dangerous shots. Per NST, he ranks fifth on the Flames with an average of 0.73 expected goals/60 at even strength.
Monahan's ability to shoot the puck from dangerous areas of the ice is still extremely valuable. I just think he needs to be used in a way that enables him to play more of a north-south game and get a jump up the wall on breakouts. It's really hard for the Flames to create separation on the rush if Monahan doesn't have a bit of a head-start. But him being relied on to play the defensive role of a centre means he's always going to have the most ground to cover.
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I don’t see it to be honest. I see Monahan getting off some dangerous shots from time to time, but nothing screams that he’s breaking out from some kind of funk. Like, we could fast forward 5 games from now and if someone told me Monahan scored 0 goals during that time, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Also, the whole defensive role stuff is so oversold. It’s not like he’s being tasked to shut down the McDavids or Matthews of the division here, he’s often going up against much worser competition and getting massive offensive zone starts here and it’s not helping.
What Monahan really needs are linemates that can exit the defensive zone quickly and efficiently, draw attention and create chaos so he can get lost in coverage and unleash his shot. That would probably fix his even strength goal scoring woes. But that’s a big ask because I don’t even know what’s out there on the market right now.