Let's Talk About Sean Monahan

[polak]

You guys realize Backlund is tied for 4th in points?

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by polak

You guys realize Backlund is tied for 4th in points?

Yeah one point above the much maligned Sean Monahan.

[CsInMyBlood]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Before the weekend Backlund had one goal in 19 games. He had a good start but was just okay until the past two games.

We all know you love Monahan, so I guess you feel the need to deflect, but to say Backlund "was just ok" until the last two games tells me you haven't actually been watching Flames games.

Backlund has been nothing short of great this year.

[MrMastodonFarm]

I also "love" Backlund, and was on his bandwagon and continued to have faith him well after most people jumped off. Wanting to see a letter on his chest when Iginla was traded. Battling posters here who called him invisible in the 2014 playoffs. So, yeah. Silly point.

Backlund had zero goals zero points in the previous eight games prior to the last two, that's while his linemate Frolik had 5 points in the same 8 games. I think saying he was just okay is justified.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

30 goals is a legit offensive ceiling. Not even Johnny the Great has scored more goals.

Monahan is not playing well this season, but people are having revisionist history here. He was great in his first three seasons, and played well in all zones. What is wrong this season? I don't know. What I do know is the guy has loads of talent and hockey sense, and that is is 21 years old. He may not be mentally tough enough yet to overcome a slump like this and it's perpetuating into worse and worse play.

I am disappointed with Gio's leadership this season as well. It feels like the whole team is mentally fragile, and I think your leadership has a lot to do with it. I think they are past the point of no return now, but Gio et al should have started pounding the tar out of people who were slashing Johnny. Maybe it would have deterred them, maybe not, but one thing it would have done was light a fire under the team.

Any team I ever played on where a guy answered the bell, the players felt a little jolt of energy.

Hard to be a leader when you look in the mirror and realize you have been one of the worst players on the team and part of the problem. What's he supposed to say to the team when he's not backing it up on the ice himself?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I also "love" Backlund, and was on his bandwagon and continued to have faith him well after most people jumped off. Wanting to see a letter on his chest when Iginla was traded. Battling posters here who called him invisible in the 2014 playoffs. So, yeah. Silly point.

I acknowledge he's been the 2nd best forward this season after Frolik but I will stand forever in saying he was terrible in the 2014 playoffs. I don't have any favorites as all I care about is the jersey so I don't have irrational love or hate for any players on the team.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Just about every young player goes threw rough patches, Patrick Kane had a 17 game pointless streak early in his career, Kopitar had 2 points in 20 games in his. these guys don't wake up and forget how to play hockey, calm down people it's just a rut.

I think people forget he just turned 22

Do you have a source for that? I find it hard to believe Kane didn't have a point for 17 games considering he's pretty much been a PPG since entering the league.

[united]

Originally Posted by Delgar

We now have this great Corsi and we suck. This reminds me too much of the Eakins Oilers.

Corsica has them at 50.8%
Puckon . net has them at 48.6%

Great teams are above 53%...unless we have different definitions of great.

[8sPOT]

I would say Monahan, Gio, and Brodie have been the worst as far as capabilities and expectations. Those are 3 main cogs on this team so no wonder we are where we are.

Can't believe the PP is less than 9% that's insanely bad. No team has finished the season with a PP% below 10 in the last 5 years, so I suppose that means it certainly can't get worse.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

I would say Monahan, Gio, and Brodie have been the worst as far as capabilities and expectations. Those are 3 main cogs on this team so no wonder we are where we are.

Can't believe the PP is less than 9% that's insanely bad. No team has finished the season with a PP% below 10 in the last 5 years, so I suppose that means it certainly can't get worse.

Gaudreau has to be part of that. As does Elliott (my opinion).

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Do you have a source for that? I find it hard to believe Kane didn't have a point for 17 games considering he's pretty much been a PPG since entering the league.

yeah there's no way Kane has gone 17 straight games without a point in his career. He may be referring to goals.

[automaton 3]

Monahan looks 1/2 step slower (maybe wrong workout regimen this summer - tried to build up too much? or still some lingering effects from injury?) and looks a bit lost in the new systems.

Pathetic PP is also hurting his production. Why you wouldn't gear your PP to best use a sniper like Monahan by feeding him cross ice or from behind the net for snap shots is beyond me.

Instead they have that goofy umbrella setup and try to lob shots through from the perimeter. It is beyond ridiculous and looks every bit the 30th best in the league.

[cznTiburon]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

yeah there's no way Kane has gone 17 straight games without a point in his career. He may be referring to goals.

I just checked and while he didn’t have a point drought for 17 games in the 08/09 season he did have a time where he had 1G 3A for 4 points including a 7 game point drought in that span. Not near 17 but also not the consistent player people seem to remember. He did manage to finish that season still with 70 points.

As a second note I was looking into Kopitars stats as well and I have no idea where he even thought that up? Dreaming maybe? Obviously he never had Kane like numbers but he rarely went more than 3-4 games without a point, although did have a 1 goal in 20 game stretch in 12/13

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The 960 guys are trashing Monahan this morning. Trashing! Saying he's Matt Stajan. Now I'm not saying I agree with them but I and others did have reservations last season that despite solid stats that Monahan looked to me more of a complementary player than offensive driver. This season that looks more true than ever. I don't think he's as bad as he's looked this season but I don't think he's as good as the stats would indicate over the past few seasons.

The issue with Monahan isn't his stats. He's a goal-scrorer, and goal-scorers are often streaky. His scoring well get back on track.

The issue is his play away from the puck. Has it ever been good? Was he given too much ice time before he had developed a well-rounded game because the team needed his offence? Has he neglected to really put the sweat into that part of his game because he sees himself as a goal-scorer?

[19kcup]

i think the tune on CP would be completely different if a couple of the Monahan setups to Bennett and Brouwer go in the back of the net last night.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Yeah one point above the much maligned Sean Monahan.

Historically Monohan has had substantially more offensive zone starts and powerplay time than Backlulnd. He should be outscoring him by a very wide margin considering the differing roles the two players play on the team.

Sean I don't want to touch the puck Monohan needs to find ways to contribute when he's not scoring goals. That's why he was signed to a lucrative long term contract.

[Saqe]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

I agree with you, my point was that if a guy can play horrible but still put up 20 goals he's probably not a guy you want to be trading when he's 22 years old.

There are 20 goal scorers that are out of job at the moment, that standard just isn't enough anymore in today's league. Monahan has to find another way to contribute when he is not scoring. Especially when he is paid over 6 million.

I posted this a week ago or so that many of the other young guys who just signed a big deal are struggling too so I'm not worried about scoring, everyone has slumps. I'm more worried about his overall game when he is not scoring.

[Wiggum_PI]

Originally Posted by united

Corsica has them at 50.8%
Puckon . net has them at 48.6%

Great teams are above 53%...unless we have different definitions of great.

The fact that the Flames are ahead of the Rangers on both of those sites shows just how subjective CF% is in measuring how good a team is.

[Sylvanfan]

The Flames did seem to get trapped on Monahan producing as much on his rookie contract as he did. Of all the centers who re-signed last year in Schiefele, MacKinnon, Barkov, and him...I suspect most on this site would have had him 3 or 4. But he ended up getting the premium contract because at that point in time he'd been the best scorer of the bunch.

I hope it's a case of a young guy feeling pressure with a new contract, plus injury. But this could be 3 out of 4 seasons where any numbers he put up pretty much came when the team was pretty much out of the playoff race.

I think he can be a really good scorer, but I also think the Flames will be holding the worst contract out of the 4 RFA centers from this summer. Not saying it's a bad contract, but in a tight cap environment every dollar counts, and this one may not pass the test.

[united]

It's an interesting point in time with Monahan. In previous years, we have really small samples of Monahan apart from Gaudreau and his results suffered a huge drop - to the point you wonder if he can carry his own line. While there wasn't nearly enough evidence to come to a firm conclusion, it did point to Monahan being a large beneficiary of playing alongside Gaudreau. These six weeks without Gaudreau should help paint a better picture of what we have right now with Monahan, with the caveat being his slow start/possible unannounced injury.

The biggest disappointment to me has been Monahan's putrid defensive play so far in his NHL career. We all had hopes of Monahan filling or even coming close to his potential as the next Toews, given his two-way play in junior and his demeanor, however barring a big turnaround that seems a dream at this point. What he has proven tough is, due to his unique shooting technique and release, and also instincts, he will be a career elite NHL shooter.

Right now, to me, he seems to be trending toward a poor man's Stamkos (the centre version)...or even saying the centre version of Rick Nash may be better. That is, little to no defensive contribution, and not a great playmaker, but the ability to score in volumes despite the shortcomings. That isn't a bad thing - scoring is the hardest thing to do at the NHL level. He just doesn't seem to have the two-way game we had hoped for. Instead of a two-way centre, he's looking more like a pure one-dimensional sniper.

All that said, he is young enough to turn things around rapidly, and his release isn't going anywhere. I really hope his work in his own end picks up, because the first few years, amplified by this year's horrendous start, have been beyond poor.