Quote:
Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper
Specious reasoning. I don’t think Monahan’s decline has anything to do with injuries. It’s a convenient excuse, but I don’t buy it for a second.
He had wrist surgery which everybody brings up all the time, but fail to mention he had a career year in goals the following season. He had hip surgery over the offseason, but does his skating look labored or different from his usual stride? No. If anything, the one aspect of his game that has been impressive has been his assertiveness and work ethic.
His biggest faults from what I’ve seen throughout his career that still plagues him to this day are his defensive zone play, his inability to create his own shot and the lackluster pace he plays with.
He use to have Johnny Gaudreau to defer to in order to exit and enter the zone. He doesn’t have that anymore, so he’s expected to push the pace himself which he’s never been good at. He’s never had the ability to create his own shot as the majority of his goals came from wide open chances in the slot. Who’s creating magic around the net for him now? No one.
This is a player who was overly reliant on one player named Johnny Gaudreau and without him, he’s lost. It was so obvious to me a long time ago and it should’ve been obvious to the general manager and his group.
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He did have a 20 goal season before Gaudreau was in the league...playing with Gaudreau helped for sure but most guys play better with better players. See the thread's namesake.
Monahan has 15 points in 30 games...not bad for a 3rd/4th liner with PP time