Quote:
Originally Posted by Kovaz
I'm in favor of exploring this type of thing. I've posted this before, but IMO Gaudreau and Monahan as a pair are absolutely incredible at putting up points off of turnovers, defensive miscues, or other (relatively) unforced errors, but compared to other similarly good players they aren't as good at generating a goal against a stout defense in a tight-checking game. By shuffling the lines, we likely hurt our ability to score 7+ goals against a non-playoff team in February (so it probably drops our overall goal totals), but if we can find more ability to score a 3rd period goal against Bergeron and Chara in a 1-1 tie I think it'll be more than worth it.
Now, the big question is if Gaudreau-Monahan can develop more of that skillset, or if we're more likely to find it with different combos. And that depends on why they aren't scoring those goals - is it due to inherent flaws they have as players, or something that can be coached out of them?
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Great post.
We can all certainly read too much into comments, but the Monahan interview with Steinberg at the NHL Awards was pretty interesting. To paraphrase he was already working on speed/explosiveness and then he said something that I've discussed with friends ever since. "I need to be a completely different player next season".
What is that?
I'm guessing they want him to use his size more. I don't think you can expect him to turn into a greasy player over night, but maybe get into the difficult areas and stand your ground.
Could speak to less perimeter and turnover conversion and more fight for the tough areas and score his patented garbage through some physical battles.