Quote:
Originally Posted by kehatch
Monahan has limited speed and he isn't a high end puck distributor. He isn't physical and he doesn't provide that net presence. He is a middling face off guy as well. His "give a damn" meter seems to be stuck on low as well. None of that is ideal for a C.
Outside of the 18/19 season, he has been consistently a 60 point guy. He is an elite goal scorer, but some of that can be attributed to playing with Gaudreau.
The real knock against Monahan isn't his offense though, it's his defensive play. If he was a proficient defensive player you could live with 60 points and 25 goals. But he isn't, especially when going up against the other teams top line.
When he was drafted his rep was as a defensively capable C. If Sutter can get him to up the intensity and play a strong defensive game he would be a worthwhile top 6 forward (see Lindholm). Monahan did play much better D under Sutter, but his offense dried up. Maybe with a full camp and a fresh start he can find the balance.
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First of all, his GAF meter is off the charts! The guy plays through considerable pain just to try and help his team win. I think you confuse his calm demeanor with not caring. I think he has an A on his shirt for a reason. Sutter had nothing but praise for the guy, and I don't think it's a coincidence. I also think he spent a large chunk of the last couple of seasons trying to improve his physical and defensive play. I can fault the guy for a lot of things(hockey wise) but caring is not one of them.
Now as for his passing, I think he can generate offense with his passing. I think you need to rewatch some of the highlights from 2018-19 or 2017-18. Gaudreau wasn't the only one generating offense. Their line had a bunch of tic tac toe goals.
His faceoffs are at least above average. He constantly takes face-offs against the other team's best guys. Winning half of the draws is above average in itself.
I agree about defensive play, especially when defending a cycle a line with Monahan and Gaudreau was borderline useless last season. A lot of chasing around on Monahan's part without much to show for it. In fact, most of the times I saw the Flames get trapped in their own zone(last season) it was Monahan's line.