Sean Monahan’s biggest offseason

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Interesting article at the Athletic today from Kent Wilson regarding Monahan;



https://theathletic.com/962771/2019/...r-no-1-centre/







Maybe there's something behind the scenes we don't know about but the team probably needs to get a good handle on how his game eroded. It's one thing to slump but to have your 1st line center be your worst possession forward is a problem that can't be ignored or treated as a fluke.

I am fairly encouraged by this, because it feels like something that was an outlier, and is correctable. Monahan is obviously a much, MUCH better player than he showed down the stretch.


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[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

He was on pace for 44 goals and 100 points right up to the all star break so I'm not so sure it has anything to do with Hartley. According to Wilson, Monahan was the main culprit in the 1st line slumping down the stretch so the question has to be asked why? What changed? Maybe something in his personal life? I can't imagine the broken thumb was a main reason. Just so weird as plenty of top line scorers go through cold snaps where the bounces don't go their way and they lose a bit of confidence but it's pretty rare for a top line player enroute to a career season almost overnight becoming your worst forward for over 1/4 of a season and into the playoffs.

I've been speculating personal life for a while. Maybe "boring monahan" is actually depressed Monahan.

[868904]

I think next season, Monahan will get moved to the wing and Lindholm will be the regular centreman for Gaudreau.

Mony is much more of a winger than a centre. He’s a sniper and it might actually benefit him to NOT be the centre of attention that centremen usually are. Could also save his hands for sniping as opposed to battling in face offs.

Lindholm is a better skater and much more responsible defensively and also has a lot more grit in his game. He is the better fit at centre for that line.

[Manhattanboy]

Funny how much the semi sweep of the Flames in round 1 has shattered my confidence in and like for the so called core. If Mony is moved, provided the return is decent I would be just fine.

[Strange Brew]

Not everyone is a cut out for an 82 game season. Mony is tough in that he takes a lot of punishment to get to where he needs to be to score goals.

Maybe his inability to properly train last summer due to injury meant he wore down during the season. Who knows, but since I don’t like speculating on personal drama, I will go with this as a possibility.

But I also think it’s foolish to assume the early season Monahan is a reasonable expectation for him. He has never approached that production for a full season.

[Snuffleupagus]

Excuses, he gets paid to be a pro and he wasn't one, he flat out sucked after the break and he sucked the life out of his line mates, the real problem should be why Peter's continued to play him on the top line, it's a massive mystery to me

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I am fairly encouraged by this, because it feels like something that was an outlier, and is correctable. Monahan is obviously a much, MUCH better player than he showed down the stretch.


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I tend to agree. You can't ignore how well he played for 2/3 of the season and the guy has been a consistent 27-30 goal scorer entering the league. There's little doubt to me this was more than a slump and something behind the scenes was affecting his play which probably means it's not going to be something that's overly repeatable. All of that said it's also obvious he has some areas of his game he needs to work on so when he's not scoring he's not a liability. I'm still of the belief he is part of the solution.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Nice spring weather this weekend. Wilson and Francis can hold hands and have a nice picnic, where they can talk with each other about Monahan

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by 868904

I think next season, Monahan will get moved to the wing and Lindholm will be the regular centreman for Gaudreau.

Mony is much more of a winger than a centre. He’s a sniper and it might actually benefit him to NOT be the centre of attention that centremen usually are. Could also save his hands for sniping as opposed to battling in face offs.

Lindholm is a better skater and much more responsible defensively and also has a lot more grit in his game. He is the better fit at centre for that line.

Monahan has never played wing.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Monahan has never played wing.

He did in international play before. Eg. Worlds 2014. I think the poster just meant he had wing-type skills as opposed to C type skills.

As it is he and Lidstrom split draws 50-50 depending on side of the ice. Whether he can adjust to the rest is the question, though IMO it's less of an adjustment than moving the other way. More Cs move to wing out of junior than the opposite.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Nice spring weather this weekend. Wilson and Francis can hold hands and have a nice picnic, where they can talk with each other about Monahan

The stats don't like nor does the eye test on Monahan post all-star break. We can still have a civil conversation on this topic without calling Monahan garbage as most of us realize he's a good player that has yet to reach his full potential (we hope anyway). He's the 1st line center and it's a legit topic to discuss what happened leading up and into the playoffs.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Excuses, he gets paid to be a pro and he wasn't one, he flat out sucked after the break and he sucked the life out of his line mates, the real problem should be why Peter's continued to play him on the top line, it's a massive mystery to me

Massive mystery? What was he supposed to do? It is not like there are better options at his disposal.

Jankowski to the top line? He barely deserved to play 5 on 5. Backlund was needed for the tough matchups. Ryan was just getting into a groove with his line mates and eventually would have been eaten alive playing 18min a night with Gaudreau. Lindholm was the only viable option imo but he was pretty bad after the break as well. If Lindholm was the choice who was the right wing on the top line? Flames struggled to get a legit second line RW after Lindholm as Frolik got the spot by default.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

He did in international play before. Eg. Worlds 2014. I think the poster just meant he had wing-type skills as opposed to C type skills.

As it is he and Lidstrom split draws 50-50 depending on side of the ice. Whether he can adjust to the rest is the question, though IMO it's less of an adjustment than moving the other way. More Cs move to wing out of junior than the opposite.

Monahan has almost 500 GP in the NHL. Junior was a loooong time ago.

He's had a crappy stretch of about 35 games, and I still chalk that up to a confidence slump.

I think he's proven he's a center, and like any other good players, he suffers slumps. I wouldn't ring alarm bells until next season if it continues.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The stats don't like nor does the eye test on Monahan post all-star break. We can still have a civil conversation on this topic without calling Monahan garbage as most of us realize he's a good player that has yet to reach his full potential (we hope anyway). He's the 1st line center and it's a legit topic to discuss what happened leading up and into the playoffs.

I think there are probably two distinct questions
1. Can Monahan sustain a level of play that is closer to what we saw in the first half of the year.
2. Does he have another level above that, not in terms of production, but in terms of other elements of the game

And then the question is do you need #2 to happen (which I view is probably unlikely) or if he was the player we saw in H1 that it would be enough for the Flames to be a contender?

[Dajazz]

The Avs not only beat the Calgary Flames, they managed to lobotomise Calgary Puck.

Monahan sucks.
Gaudreau is a wimp.
Hanifin is a bottom pairing D.
Bennett is Crosby.

Well done Avs, well done.

It is what it is. A super hot team beat us fair and square. Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, hell - Tampa Bay All Stars are all out in the first round. Poop happens. Players slump. Players go on hot streaks. Good teams lose in the first round.

[activeStick]

Monahan and Mackinnon are very different centers, just like Gaudreau and Tkachuk are very different wingers, just like Giordano and Hamonic are very different defencemen. If the Flames want Monahan to play like Mackinnon, it'll never happen. He doesn't have the speed, but Monahan is one of the best players in the league to have the puck in the slot for a quick shot, perhaps even better than Mackinnon.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Monahan has almost 500 GP in the NHL. Junior was a loooong time ago.

He's had a crappy stretch of about 35 games, and I still chalk that up to a confidence slump.

I think he's proven he's a center, and like any other good players, he suffers slumps. I wouldn't ring alarm bells until next season if it continues.

I'm not saying to play him on the wing. I'm just interpreting that post. The 2014 comment was about him as a pro, at the Worlds that year (albeit after only his rookie season).

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Monahan has never played wing.

And your point is?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I think there are probably two distinct questions
1. Can Monahan sustain a level of play that is closer to what we saw in the first half of the year.
2. Does he have another level above that, not in terms of production, but in terms of other elements of the game

And then the question is do you need #2 to happen (which I view is probably unlikely) or if he was the player we saw in H1 that it would be enough for the Flames to be a contender?

Yep those are valid questions that Flames management is likely pondering as we speak. We know from Conroy's comments they feel he needs to put in some offseason work in some areas he's lacking such as skating. I expect next season will be a big one for him in regards to cementing his status as a franchise center. If he has another 2nd half decline I imagine Treliving will start looking at a roster shakeup especially with Gaudreau heading into the last two years of his deal.

[oldschoolcalgary]

still tough to say.

Monahan was probably the best Flames forward vs Anaheim and one of the worst versus the Avs... so, based on what was evidenced by the playoffs, the jury is still out.

i would tend to agree that age isn't a factor...he's played 500 games in the NHL now.

Some players are great during the regular season, but disappear in the playoffs, while others aren't noticeable during the regular season, but then blow up in the playoffs. Not everyone is a clutch player, but you still need to contribute to the cause.

i don't think they should trade Monahan, barring another blockbuster win/win type of trade dropping into their laps...

that said, its a big year coming up for Monahan and he needs to round out his game so that he is a bigger contributor when he isn't scoring.

If he wants to be thought of as a #1 centerman, he needs to play like that on a more consistent basis.