Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
And last year, when he had Lindholm on his RW for the whole season? Or even 2018-19 after the ASB?
I'm going to be honest, I too think Monahan can get back to being a productive scorer, especially if this surgery is a success.
My issue with him remains the one I've had with him for his entire career though - his style of play is ill-suited for one of a team's two best centers. Even Backlund is better-suited to a top six center role, despite the obvious gap in "hands".
If your top line or even second line center is not someone in whose hands you want the puck... what's the point?
|
You are arguing against something I’m not saying. I was talking solely about the Ritchie stuff.
That said, I think Monahan’s all around game is underrated here, at least when he’s scoring. He’s just not as bad with the puck as people think. He doesn’t dangle through defenders, but he makes good smart passes, he’s decent at regaining pucks that are up for grabs and he can carry the puck through the NZ when he wants to. He just has deferred a lot in his career because he played with someone better than him at those things. It was noticeable right after the line switch, especially when he had two good wingers to pass to in Mangiapane and Dube.
When Ritchie was inserted, Monahan really only had the left side to pass to (and Mangiapane only had Monahan). This made him look a lot worse at “being a centre”.