[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I think people over estimate what a top line winger is. Huberdeau is our only elite winger - but Coleman, Toffoli, and Mangiapane all fit certain criteria of "top line winger" by different metrics.

There are technically 96 top line forwards in the NHL and 192 top 6 forwards - here's where Flames potential top 6 forwards rank by goals and points at 5v5 over the last three seasons:

Goals:
Lindholm: 53 - T-8TH
Mangiapane: 53 - T-8th
Huberdeau: 45 - T-27th
Coleman: 40 - T-51st
Toffoli: 37 - T-74th
Dube: 27 - T-157th
Backlund: 25 - T-183rd
Monahan: 19 - T-245th

Honestly finishing should not be an issue - we have 5 forwards in the top 90 of 5v5 goals over the last three seasons.

Points
Huberdeau: 121 - 11th
Lindholm: 101 - T-31st
Mangiapane: 92 - T-53rd
Backlund: 81 - T-92nd
Coleman: 77 - T-104th
Toffoli: 74 - T-119th
Dube: 56 - T-198th
Monahan: 51 - T-217th

It does show that ideally an upgrade on Backlund is where you'd focus. The team isn't really lacking finishers - it's lacking playmakers.

Tkachuk and Gaudreau were both great playmakers, and now we are down to just Huberdeau as a great distributor.

I wasn't on board with Kadri before the Tkachuk and Gaudreau moves...but now a top 6 center that can score and distribute the puck would really make all of our lines slot better.

Kadri really fits that bill if you look at his last three seasons:

Goals: 39 - T-56th
Assists: 55 - T-44th
Points: 94 - T-42nd

Having Lindholm, Kadri, and Backlund anchoring the middle of the ice, an shifting Monahan to wing probably really is the solution this team needs.

voracek