Just before this season started, Jack Han offered some analysis to Kent Wilson on the Gaudreau-Monahan decline, assuming Lindholm would be on their right-hand side. For those unfamiliar, Han formerly held the following titles during a multi-year stint with the Maple Leafs:
- Marlies assistant coach (with then-head coach Sheldon Keefe)
- Maple Leafs scout
- Maple Leafs Hockey Operations Assistant
- Maple Leafs Player Development Analyst
Quote:
https://bigbodypresence.substack.com...k-up-13-and-23- IMO Monahan is not really a center. If you watch him play in DZ, you'll see him doing a lot of standing around instead of being a step ahead of the play, pressuring the next puck carrier as the puck gets there, and making stops.
- Instead, he's typically standing in a spot, ostensibly playing defense but not really doing anything to help his team get the puck back. This for me explains why his shot impacts have been consistently not great for his entire career: he doesn't really pressure the puck and force the other team to turn it over so that CGY can get on offense.
- In terms of how he interacts with 13, a lot of breakout plays that they run as a line involve 13 circling back & building speed, and 23/28 pushing out of the zone to create space for 13
- Unlike most top-line Cs, Monahan neither likes nor is very good at carrying the puck from DZ through the NZ. Lindholm (28) is not a guy to take charge in transition either. So when CGY has the puck, 13 is really the guy who's doing that. Even though he's the only one of the three who's never played C in the NHL.
- 13 is certainly very small by human standards, but he's also not particularly fast in a straight line. His entire game is about CHANGE of speed and direction to manipulate coverage, rather than purely burning through coverage, so he can't run the same plays too often as a "running back" of sorts. Otherwise, he gets stuffed in the NZ. And the fact that 28 and especially 23 are not really great partners for him in transition puts a lot of stress on 13.
- To get into the OZ consistently 13 needs to be a dual-threat, first as a carrier but second as a passer. for him to be a credible passing threat he needs his RD to go.
- Right now (13) is exposed because he’s all alone. Calgary needs another center or a winger who can play with him in transition. For Gaudreau, the ideal scenario is for Monahan (or another C) and the other F to push up, and for a righty like Hamilton to catch up to him underneath/wide and get a puck with speed. (Han uses Dougie Hamilton as an example of a mobile RS D in the analysis as Gaudreau-Hamilton was a good connection is successful seasons)
Summary: the line as constructed only has one pass and carry threat through the neutral zone. Without a better center, another transitional winger, or an RH defender activation in transition, Gaudreau can be queued on and defended a lot easier.
|
I enjoyed the read though some will see the author and immediately dismiss it. For anyone else, the entire article is well worth a look but also note this is from December not today.
Obviously I don't give a #### about deferral to authority but I know there are a small number of posters who ridicule anyone who doesn't immediately do so. So, here we are. Han's analysis closely aligns with my own and that of others whom I respect: Gaudreau's shortcomings (turnovers and extreme contact avoidance) stand out to the casual puck-focused fan, while Monahan's shortcomings (complete indifference to defensive effort, poor in transition) are not as easily noticed as they are usually off-puck occurrences. In the end, both players are flawed however Gaudreau gets significantly more criticism from the casual fan because he has the puck far more often.
What is the harm in splitting them up at this point? Or at least trying 23 on wing. There is nothing to lose now, and in fact keeping them together deprives management of potentially useful information to use in future decision making.