Sean Monahan 2020 and Beyond

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Get rid of him. I would much rather keep Backlund as our 2nd line C, he competes every game, he can skate, and he is a solid two way player...

Backlund was terrific in the playoffs this year, but I think it is fair to point out that this has historically not been the case. He has 14 points in 30 playoff games in his career, but prior to this year he had only eight in four series spread over three post-seasons.

I am not ready to give up completely on Monahan, but I sure do believe that he needs a change of scenery—whether that be in the form of a trade, or in a shakeup to his own line. But I think that similar to a player like Backlund, there is lots of room for a 25-year-old high-end centre to become an impact playoff performer.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

As an outside watcher, I've always maintained that in Sean Monahan was a winger he would be one of the best. As a center he's a slightly above average 2nd line center or a below average 1st line center with a terrible defensive acumen either way.

Move him to the wing, or trade him.

Nonsense. If Sean Monahan is your second line centre, that bespeaks tremendous depth.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Brick

Get rid of him.

so dumb

making bad trades because of emotion always works out

[Lanny_McDonald]

Monahan is a finisher. The problem with Monahan is he is only as good as his linemates are playing. This year Gaudreau was terrible. Lindholm was invisible. That was not going to bode well for Monahan. I would keep him and try to bring in another center that can push Backlund down to the third line, where he belongs. Actually, I
d be trading Backlund, but that's a different thread. Monahan is a guy I keep and try to play him on the second line with Tkachuk and Mangipagne. Find another pivot to play up top, hopefully with Hall and Lindholm.

[Geeoff]

Monahan is one of if not the best Flame at faceoffs, so it doesn't really make sense to move him to the wing.

[djsFlames]

This title deserves one of those epic sci fi saga movie posters.

[robertsfan]

Bye Felicia. Fck you and your chinstrap.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Monahan is one of if not the best Flame at faceoffs, so it doesn't really make sense to move him to the wing.

You can still take face offs and play the wing.

I've never been a move Monahan to the wing guy, but he's more of a shooter and less of a distributor so it's not the worst idea as long as have a C to replace him.

[Classic_Sniper]

I’m in the camp with those that think the Flames should explore a trade for Monahan this off season. He struggled to take on a prominent role with the team despite going up against the likes of Adam Lowry, Andrew Copp and Radek Faksa. For $6.3M, you have to dominate these matchups and I didn’t see that from him. He was actually pretty invisible to me for 80% of the games he played in.

I don’t think this team is going anywhere close to the Stanley Cup finals if Monahan has to go up against the likes of a Mackinnon again or an O’Reilly or even a Pettersson in the future.


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[djsFlames]

Hall - Lindholm - Monahan next season would be an intriguing experiment. No more leaning on Gaudreau, your center is better at carrying the puck up ice, all three can shoot, and you can still use Monahan for faceoffs.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Please trade him.
There's no change we need more than this.

[wretched34]

The only way Monahan should be moving out is if Tre is able to bring in a truly elite 1C.
As much as people like to say Monahan is not a #1C, he is, and he's the best one we've had for over 2 decades.
Since he has entered the league, he is 8th in goals scored, and 18th in overall points, while being 35th for avg TOI for all centers (who have played over 300 games). He is tied for 7th in Goals per 60 at 5v5, and tied for 8th (with MacKinnon)for goals per game.
He is one of the most offensive centers in the league, without question.
His 200 ft game could use some work, but that's on the coaching, not strictly on the player.
For the last 6 seasons he has been stapled to Gaudreau, with a mandate of going to the slot, and waiting for Gaudreau to make something happen. How can you expect to see what he is truly capable of, when he's handcuffed to a system that asks only 1 thing of him.
It's time to get Monahan away from Gaudreau, ala Toews and Kane. Give him Taylor Hall and Matthew Tkachuk as wingers, see what happens... I bet we like it.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by wretched34

The only way Monahan should be moving out is if Tre is able to bring in a truly elite 1C.
As much as people like to say Monahan is not a #1C, he is, and he's the best one we've had for over 2 decades.
Since he has entered the league, he is 8th in goals scored, and 18th in overall points, while being 35th for avg TOI for all centers (who have played over 300 games). He is tied for 7th in Goals per 60 at 5v5, and tied for 8th (with MacKinnon)for goals per game.
He is one of the most offensive centers in the league, without question.
His 200 ft game could use some work, but that's on the coaching, not strictly on the player.
For the last 6 seasons he has been stapled to Gaudreau, with a mandate of going to the slot, and waiting for Gaudreau to make something happen. How can you expect to see what he is truly capable of, when he's handcuffed to a system that asks only 1 thing of him.
It's time to get Monahan away from Gaudreau, ala Toews and Kane. Give him Taylor Hall and Matthew Tkachuk as wingers, see what happens... I bet we like it.

I'd much rather this than trading Monahan for a magic bean that we have to hope and pray turns out at least as good as Monahan.

Monahan is a good player no matter how you slice it. Trade him to improve the position, or for a pick that has a good chance at being better than him (good luck!) or trade someone else to bring in a better centre and push him to #2 C.

At this point the "I just want him gone!" and "Give me an 8th overall pick!" crowds are being stupid or emotional. If you trade Monahan, you trade him to get better, not to get worse. Otherwise, keep him. Top 6 centres are more important and harder to acquire than top 6 wingers.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Hall - Lindholm - Monahan next season would be an intriguing experiment. No more leaning on Gaudreau, your center is better at carrying the puck up ice, all three can shoot, and you can still use Monahan for faceoffs.

I’ll never understand this line of thinking that Gaudreau somehow holds Monahan back from carrying the puck up the ice. Don’t you think that if Monahan could do it, he would’ve shown in 500+ games?

I watch for this pretty closely for all Flames centers as zone exits are extremely important IMO and here’s what I generally see from Monahan. When he does carry the puck up the middle, he’s usually trying to get rid of it pretty quick. He’ll either dump in which I’m not a fan of because his skating isn’t a strong point so his forecheck is pretty ineffective.

Otherwise, he’ll usually fire a low percentage long range wrist shot on goal as he doesn’t have the dynamic ability to deke through his opponent. One thing that bothers me most is he doesn’t use his size to hold onto pucks like ala Kopitar or Draisaitl can. He’s as big as these guys, but he doesn’t lean on the defender like he should.

He’d be so much more effective if he had this element in his game. For the most part, he defers to Gaudreau because he doesn’t have this in his game. Maybe Hall can do what Gaudreau does, but the potential for that line to look exactly as we’ve seen it over this era is pretty darn high.


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[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

I don’t think this team is going anywhere close to the Stanley Cup finals if Monahan has to go up against the likes of a Mackinnon again or an O’Reilly or even a Pettersson in the future.


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There are certainly some beast centres in this conference/division that we’ll have nightmares lining up against for the next decade, sucks not to have one of our own. The only thing that’s hopeful is how the Knights are atop the Pacific without an elite C, so it might not be absolutely mandatory for an annual contender. It’s just that the rest of the roster and the coaching needs to be a machine to compensate for it.

[Jore]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

I’ll never understand this line of thinking that Gaudreau somehow holds Monahan back from carrying the puck up the ice. Don’t you think that if Monahan could do it, he would’ve shown in 500+ games?

"OK Sean, we know that Gaudreau is good at carrying the puck and they cover him closely every playoffs, make sure never to take advantage of the space that opens up to carry the puck yourself to leave the zone or gain the zone, you must always defer to Gaudreau because our game plan relies on suppressing your natural abilities that you've never shown in 6 years"

[Scary Eloranta]

It's a no win situation either way. Trade him? For what? Sure he can score 30 goals every year but then he hears the word "playoffs" and he fills his pants and goes into the fetal position. Keep him and it's the same old story all over again.

[wretched34]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

I’ll never understand this line of thinking that Gaudreau somehow holds Monahan back from carrying the puck up the ice. Don’t you think that if Monahan could do it, he would’ve shown in 500+ games?

I watch for this pretty closely for all Flames centers as zone exits are extremely important IMO and here’s what I generally see from Monahan. When he does carry the puck up the middle, he’s usually trying to get rid of it pretty quick. He’ll either dump in which I’m not a fan of because his skating isn’t a strong point so his forecheck is pretty ineffective.

Otherwise, he’ll usually fire a low percentage long range wrist shot on goal as he doesn’t have the dynamic ability to deke through his opponent. One thing that bothers me most is he doesn’t use his size to hold onto pucks like ala Kopitar or Draisaitl can. He’s as big as these guys, but he doesn’t lean on the defender like he should.

He’d be so much more effective if he had this element in his game. For the most part, he defers to Gaudreau because he doesn’t have this in his game. Maybe Hall can do what Gaudreau does, but the potential for that line to look exactly as we’ve seen it over this era is pretty darn high.


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I think the easiest way to understand it, is that Monahan's role is to get to the slot, and let Gaudreau set up the play, thus Gaudreau carries the puck, or Monahan dumps it into Gaudreaus corner so Gaudreau can retrieve it and set the play.

This thinking of Monahan not being able to carry the puck, or set up plays is definitely blown out of proportion. in 2018/19, when Lindholm was first added to the top line, the dynamic changed to a full on attack line, with all 3 forwards carrying the puck and setting up plays.
With that, Johnny put up a career high in goals (36), Lindholm set a career high in goals (27), and Monahan set a career high in assists (48). This year for whatever reason they play very much reverted back to Johnny carrying the puck, and running the offense off the half boards, and all 3 forwards took a drastic hit in production.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Scary Eloranta

It's a no win situation either way. Trade him? For what? Sure he can score 30 goals every year but then he hears the word "playoffs" and he fills his pants and goes into the fetal position. Keep him and it's the same old story all over again.

People talk like Monahan only ever had bad playoffs. I recall he was the only one that showed up against Anaheim 3 years ago.

And I don't get how people rag on Monahan, but give Backlund a free pass. Backlund wasn't good in these playoffs either. Why aren't we clamouring to trade him?

[Hey Connor, It's Mess]

I find it hard to imagine a trade involving Monahan that the Flames would 'win' or not look back on with regret a couple years later. In a perfect world you improve the team without moving him. He's the second best goal scorer this team has had this century.