Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
I watched all the games. No one was very good. But let’s not pretend Monahan was some weak link on those POs. No one stood out.
His ES and PP stats in the POs are roughly about even, not lopsided. He has maybe one ENG. And in the POs powerplay points are huge.
Monahan is deserving enough criticism without exaggerating his PO performance compared to the rest of the team.
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Here’s the problem with powerplay scoring though, you score as a unit, but only 3 guys max, can earn points. If we look at 2017 as an example, Monahan had 5 powerplay points, 0 even strength. Johnny Gaudreau, 2 powerplay points, 0 at even strength. Looking at the raw stats, one might think Monahan was dominant and Gaudreau struggled.
But lets be honest here, would anyone say Monahan is more important to the team’s powerplay? I wouldn’t. Gaudreau plays on the flank and on a 1-3-1 structure, plays usually run through the flanks. So if the unit as a whole scored, then the flank was likely imperative to the unit’s success. The bumper position that Monahan was usually slotted in acts as support/trigger man which isn’t as important in my opinion. It’s the same reason why Toffoli was swapped in for Monahan and that unit hasn’t skipped a beat.