Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Defensive play is grossly undervalued on this board.
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I think it's grossly overvalued when looking at how much money and term some people think Backlund is worth. I consider strong defensive play more of a nice to have than a necessity for a first line center who's main priority is to score goals. I consider it more a required skill of 2nd or 3rd line centers. I'm not a homer in that if I was to choose between the two players I would probably take Barkov but I would have to consider Monahan as being the player you can rely on for 80 games and has maybe a better scoring touch. If Barkov continues to miss double digit games after another season or two then I may go with Monahan simply because you are going to get more games out of him.