Player Discussion Sean Monahan

[Flameshomer]

Lol I came in expecting detractors and found them. Just keep doing you Sean, you'll make all of these jabronis eat their terrible word-vomit posts about your inability to pass or your shortcomings, or how we should split you up from johnny. Some of y'all are insufferable.

 

[JPeeper]

Next game I'll try to remember to keep a tally of Monahan's passes, because I've gotta tell ya, I don't think he's any better a passer than Backlund is. Which, again, is not bad (it's above average); it's just not overly high end. Actually Backlund may even make better passing decisions at times, but that's all supposition until someone (possibly me) starts tracking the two of them.

I am curious, though, if we have this centre who is elite at all things except skating as you say, why is he not putting up Tavares numbers next to one of the best LWs in the game?

Tavares 16 points, Monahan 18 points. Monahan against Toronto, 2 points. Tavares against Calgary, completely invisible.

Gaudreau when Monahan was shut down last year, 8GP 1G, 2A (6 games where he was pointless) -8.

Backlund first year he plays with Bennett has a career high in points (47), next year where he gets Tkachuk (53) again beats his career high. Away from these two players, career high 39 points. Took him 8 years to get career high of 31 assists, Monahan has seasons of 31, 31, 33, 36 assists.

Backlund's passing doesn't touch Monahan's. And if anyone wants to come at me with "bro secondary assists", watch any of Ferlands goals last year and see who set up 70% of them because it wasn't Gaudreau.

 

[Dack]

Tavares 16 points, Monahan 18 points. Monahan against Toronto, 2 points. Tavares against Calgary, completely invisible.

Gaudreau when Monahan was shut down last year, 8GP 1G, 2A (6 games where he was pointless) -8.

Backlund first year he plays with Bennett has a career high in points (47), next year where he gets Tkachuk (53) again beats his career high. Away from these two players, career high 39 points. Took him 8 years to get career high of 31 assists, Monahan has seasons of 31, 31, 33, 36 assists.

Backlund's passing doesn't touch Monahan's. And if anyone wants to come at me with "bro secondary assists", watch any of Ferlands goals last year and see who set up 70% of them because it wasn't Gaudreau.

The team was shooting like 3% during that 20 game stretch and no stats from that time of year should be used as an arguement towards anything. Not to mention his father had just had a heart attack.

I just watched all of Ferlands goals and Monahan has the 1A on 5 of them by my count. Not quite 70%.


Monahan is a pretty average passer for a guy on the first line. That's not good or bad.

 

[Rubi]

The biggest issue is consistency over the full season. Not that he can't have a game or two here and there, even a handful. It's when the handful stretches turn into 10-20 game chunks of being somewhat invisible. Hopefully that doesn't happen this year.

Skill-wise I think he can be a top 10-15 when playing at his capability. Maybe higher when he enters his prime.

But right now the only real complaint has been consistency. Maybe some soft play.

Every player has scoring slumps and the worst that Monahan had last year, even when he was injured... which was pretty well the whole season, was one 5 game slump and one 4 game slump. Even Gaudreau had a 5 game slump and a 4 game slump last year.
And to imply that Monahan has disappeared for 10-20 game chunks is being disingenuous. If Monahan remains injury free this year, I expect him to get 75-80 pts. Maybe then people will admit that he's a #1 center.

 

[Flameshomer]

Every player has scoring slumps and the worst that Monahan had last year, even when he was injured... which was pretty well the whole season, was one 5 game slump and one 4 game slump. Even Gaudreau had a 5 game slump and a 4 game slump last year.
And to imply that Monahan has disappeared for 10-20 game chunks is being disingenuous. If Monahan remains injury free this year, I expect him to get 75-80 pts. Maybe then people will admit that he's a #1 center.

Lol there are people on this board who would still say hes not a #1 center if he dipped over 100 points this year...

 

[Calculon]

Has anyone actually seriously said he's not a number one centre? Because this thread just seems like a bunch strawmen being set up and knocked down.

Monahan's a number one centre but he's not a franchise centre (at least not thus far). Tiny samples won't change that. And maybe when he actually puts up multiple point per game seasons or better, the labels can change.

Not a lot of teams in NHL history have won the cup without a franchise centreman.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Lol I came in expecting detractors and found them. Just keep doing you Sean, you'll make all of these jabronis eat their terrible word-vomit posts about your inability to pass or your shortcomings, or how we should split you up from johnny. Some of y'all are insufferable.

We're insufferable? The ones who are willing to look at players with a reasonably unbiased eye? Not the grating, boring cheerleaders who cry foul when someone dares speak a single critical word of their sweet beautiful idols?

Also a note for you:
"Not exceptional" is not the same as "lacks ability". Please do me a favour and don't misrepresent my arguments for the sake of your rhetoric.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

How many other top centres has Sean Monahan made look bad? A lot.

Tends to be pretty hard to defend the best players in the game. Same goes for the other teams C’s.

 

[Anglesmith]

Sean Monahan is, like pretty much every top player in the league, not perfect. Different people have different ways of dealing with this fact when it comes to their team's players. And importantly to remember, you can find these people on every board, talking about their top centre, outside of the absolute top tier players most of the time.

Some people deal with it by entirely ignoring the flaws and pretending they exist. Some people go the other way and fixate on them as though only perfection is acceptable on the top line. Some will always, no matter what, hold out hope that there must be someone, anyone, in the organization who can do better if just given the opportunity.

Nothing should be off-limits on a message board, though.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

And if anyone wants to come at me with "bro secondary assists", watch any of Ferlands goals last year and see who set up 70% of them because it wasn't Gaudreau.

I'm game for this exercise. Let's look at every play in this video below, which AFAIK contains all of Ferland's goals and most of his points:



I'm going to score this as follows:

Plays any fourth liner could execute don't get awarded a point.

Dynamic or high IQ plays which you would expect top line forward or top pair D get a point.

Half points will be awarded to guys who make solid plays on goals that the average top 9 NHLer can make.

1) Versteeg enters the zone, gets the puck across, Gaudreau sets Giordano up for a one-timer, which Ferland bangs in the rebound on.

Monahan: 0
Ferland: 0.5
Gaudreau: 1
Versteeg: 0.5
Giordano: 1

2) Ferland hustles to turn a basic breakout into a two-on one. Ferland makes an outstanding finish on his backhand.

Monahan: 0
Ferland: 1.5
Gaudreau: 2
Versteeg: 0.5
Giordano: 1


3) Ferland uses his superior skating to help orchestrate the breakout like a center, which allows Giordano to hustle up the ice. Meanwhile Monahan stands on the wing like a winger and makes a generic Lance Bouma bank off the boards to clear the zone, which Ferland somehow gets to with his speed and chips further up the ice to Gaudreau. Ferland has basically done the center's job on this sequence going the full 200 feet on a 3 on 2. Gaudreau scores because his opposite side winger did everything you expect NHL #1 centers to be doing.

Monahan: 0
Ferland: 2.5
Gaudreau: 2.5
Versteeg: 0.5
Giordano: 1.5

4) Gaudreau makes a nice entry and dumps the puck into open space. Ferland retrieves the puck and uses his puck skills, vision, and edges to not only get the puck into the middle, but find Kulak open dead center on the point. He then proceeds to tips his own shot assist in. Pure individual effort. I will give Gaudreau half a point because his entry and area pass made it possible, although it wasn't Gaudreau's best work.

Monahan: 0
Ferland: 3.5
Gaudreau: 3.0
Versteeg: 0.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 0.5

5) Gaudreau pickpockets the puck and makes a great pass in tight space to Monahan. Monahan cycles the puck down low to Ferland as Gaudreau and Monahan both drive hard to the net. Ferland makes a hard, quick, accurate and overall correct pass from the wall to a wide open Monahan driving to an open area in the slot. Monahan scores. According to CFHF, opponents failing to cover you is somehow an elite skill on your part, although personally I would expect most players to be open in that situation given that there was a giveaway at the blue line and with how hard Gaudreau drove the net (in fact, Cassie Campbell says as much right after I typed that out). Despite my better judgement telling me that Monahan's contribution is worth .5, Monahan gets a "full point" here because getting open is his elite skill, and no one else would possibly have been open in that situation..

Monahan: 1*
Ferland: 4.5
Gaudreau: 4.0
Versteeg: 0.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 0.5

6) Monahan outright misses the pass to Gaudreau's stick on a basic zone entry, but Gaudreau manages to not only recover, but somehow turns it into an insane backhand pass to Ferland he has no business making. Ferland's high-end speed makes it a breakaway and he finishes.

Monahan: 1
Ferland: 5.5
Gaudreau: 5.0
Versteeg: 0.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 0.5

7) Kulak makes an excellent, clean bank pass to Ferland on the left wing to start the breakout. Ferland gives Monahan a basic pass. Monahan glides and then makes a basic pass to Gaudreau who is skating wide. Gaudreau somehow finds Ferland through layers of traffic, and then Ferland, who could easily have shot high, elects to make a great pad-pass to Monahan for an easy tap-in rebound.

Monahan: 1
Ferland: 6
Gaudreau: 6
Versteeg: 0.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 1

8) On the PP, Brodie walks the line and makes a nice pass, which opens up a wrister for Gaudreau, who wrists the puck towards the net. Ferland gets a piece of it.

Monahan: 1
Ferland: 6.5
Gaudreau: 6
Versteeg: 0.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 1

9) Ferland wins a puck battle in the neutral zone and gets it to Monahan, who dumps it into the corner and Ferland chases. Ferland's forechecking creates a turnover and he turns that into a clever wraparound attempt by a power forward with great edgework. "That Goal All Micheal Ferland" - Rick Ball

Monahan: 1
Ferland: 7.5
Gaudreau: 6
Versteeg: 0.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 1

10) Monahan wins a faceoff. Gaudreau makes a great snipe. Ferland has an amazing screen while playing matador with the puck. I won't bother to award points on this since Ferland doesn't get a point on it, even though it's all thanks to him.

11) Backlund with a great steal on the forecheck, finds Ferland who makes some sweet moves through the middle.

Monahan: 1
Ferland: 8.5
Gaudreau: 6
Versteeg: 0.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 1
Backlund: 1

12) Back on the PP, Brodie makes a quick pass to Versteeg who makes a quick pass to Brodie who makes a quick pass to Gaudreau who shoots towards the net. Rebound bounces towards Ferland who roofs it over the pad. I'll give everyone who touched the puck on this PP a full point because it was textbook PPing.

Monahan: 1
Ferland: 9.5
Gaudreau: 7
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 2
Backlund: 1

13) Again on the PP, Brodie makes a nice play against pressure to Gaudreau. Ferland takes a few whacks at it and the puck finds the back of the net. I'll give Brodie a point and the other two half a point as it wasn't really a special goal.

Monahan: 1
Ferland: 10
Gaudreau: 7.5
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 3
Backlund: 1

14) The defensive rebound bounces to Monahan, who makes a dangerously soft pass through the slot to Ferland. Ferland makes an incredible backhand stretch pass to Gaudreau's tape and we have a breakaway goal. I would have preferred if Monahan would have skated the puck towards his right at least two or three steps to create some space as that would have been a safer defensive play rather than the hot potato pass, but I am awarding him a full point here as it ends up a goal - even though that's the kind of D-zone play that drive me crazy about Monahan.

Monahan: 2*
Ferland: 11
Gaudreau: 8.5
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 3
Backlund: 1

15*) Ferland wins a faceoff to Monahan, who plays the puck to the point. Giordano shoots into some shinpads and the rebound finds Hamilton, who makes a great find through the offensive zone to Gaudreau. Gaudreau slips the puck to Ferland who try to backhand the puck into the net. Monahan is also.. on the ice and somewhat chases the loose puck. Giordano makes a fantastic pinch to keep the play alive, and the puck is reversed all the way to Hamilton, who uncharacteristically decides to pass to Ferland instead of shoot. Ferland walks the puck through the middle of the slot but Bishop makes the save. Wait, this wasn't a point for Ferland, we didn't score? Uh... yeah. But both of Ferland's AAA chances were thanks to the the three guys on the ice not named Monahan. NO points awarded in this one

15) Ferland's forechecking forces the puck to funnel towards the half wall. He then makes a hit to loosen the puck onto Monahan's stick and then darts into open ice like a prime Iginla. As a LHS he loads up on the left side of the slot where Monahan makes a solid pass to Ferland for the one-time BLAST. This is the first time in the video Monahan's play on a Ferland goal was undoubtably worth the price of admission, although the guy driving the play was clearly Ferland due to his hit. Ferland's amazing shot also makes Monahan look good.

Monahan: 3
Ferland: 12
Gaudreau: 8.5
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 3
Backlund: 1

16) Ferland's forechecking forces a rushed clear, and the winger makes a giveaway to Monahan at the blueline. Monahan turns his steal into an assist as Ferland drives the net and finishes hard.

Monahan: 4
Ferland: 13
Gaudreau: 8.5
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 3
Backlund: 1

17) Ferland, Brodie, and Gaudreau play a three man game at the top of the power play. Gaudreau then slips a pass through the middle and Ferland makes an absolutely great shot. Brouwer and Monahan were also... on the ice.

Monahan: 4
Ferland: 14
Gaudreau: 9.5
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 1.5
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 3
Backlund: 1

18) Giordano makes a key pinch to keep the puck alive. Gaudreau doesn't have much and resets to the point, where Ferland, who was covering for Giordano, is ready to shoot. Ferland blasts a one-timer and beats Dubnyk clean. Going to give the Gio/Johnny half points and Ferland the full point here.

Monahan: 4
Ferland: 15
Gaudreau: 10
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 3
Backlund: 1

19) Another power play goal. Bennett is playing right half wall and eyes Ferland down low, who sees Backlund and tries to center but there is a guy lying down. The puck ends up back on Ferland's stick and he just turns it into a garbage goal.

Monahan: 4
Ferland: 15.5
Gaudreau: 10
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 3
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5

20) Right-D Brodie does Right-D Brodie things and finds Monahan in the neutral zone who makes a basic pass to Frolik who makes a basic shot to the crossbard. Ferland makes the basic tap-in. I am going to give Monahan a half point for the nice hesitation on the pass to Frolik (although it wasn't much of a chance) and I am going to give Brodie the full point. Frolik and Ferland were just on the ice and happened to touch the puck at the right time.

Monahan: 4.5
Ferland: 15.5
Gaudreau: 10
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 4
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5

21) Bartkowski rushes the puck. Ferland bangs in the juicy rebound. I'm not giving Ferland much credit here.

Monahan: 4.5
Ferland: 15.5
Gaudreau: 10
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 4
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5

22) Brodie(?) and Monahan squeeze the puck out of the D-zone along the boards. Ferland in the neutral zone finds Gaudreau. Gaudreau and Ferland then make a nothing moment into an amazing breakaway goal.

Monahan: 4.5
Ferland: 16.5
Gaudreau: 11
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 4
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5

23) Ferland and Gaudreau are both doing some crazy Sedins type **** on the rush here, opening up a virtual tap-in for Monahan. Give Monahan a half point worth of credit for being a great finisher though.

Monahan: 5
Ferland: 17.5
Gaudreau: 12
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 4
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5

24) Gaudreau steals the puck, Ferland reads the play and uses his body positioning to snipe the puck

Monahan: 5
Ferland: 18
Gaudreau: 13
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 4
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5

25) Gaudreau makes a nothing moment into a controlled zone entry. Monahan finds Ferland. Ferland has eyes on the back of his head and finds Hamilton. Going to give all four of these guys credit here.

Monahan: 6
Ferland: 19
Gaudreau: 14
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 4
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 1

26) Brodie makes a nice play to start a rush. Gaudreau makes the rush into a dangerous one. Monahan gets the puck on his strong wing and centers the puck to a streaking Ferland, who uses his superior strength to tap the puck in.

Monahan: 7
Ferland: 19.5
Gaudreau: 15
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 4.5
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 1

27) Gaudreau makes a steal, gets it to Ferland who makes an amazing backhand pass. Monahan cleans up an empty net.

Monahan: 7
Ferland: 20.5
Gaudreau: 16
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 4.5
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 1

28) Beautiful tic-tac-toe play between Gaudreau, Monahan, and the off-wing sniper Ferland

Monahan: 8
Ferland: 21.5
Gaudreau: 17
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 4.5
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 1

29) Ferland levels his future linemate Aho to create a steal, which he gets through traffic to Gaudreau and Hamilton finish the play.

Monahan: 8
Ferland: 22.5
Gaudreau: 18
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 1
Brodie: 4.5
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 2

30) Kulak makes a nice entry. Ferland with eyes on the back of his head finds Monahan, who naturally gets it to Gaudreau who sets up Monahan for a tap-in.

Monahan: 9
Ferland: 23.5
Gaudreau: 19
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 2
Brodie: 4.5
Backlund: 1
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 2

31) Hamilton makes a great pinch, Backlund makes a great pass, Ferland finishes a great shot.
Monahan: 9
Ferland: 24.5
Gaudreau: 19
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 2
Kulak: 2
Brodie: 4.5
Backlund: 2
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 3

32) Gio nice pinch. Ferland with great vision finds Gaudreau, who shoots and scores.
Monahan: 9
Ferland: 25.5
Gaudreau: 20
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 3
Kulak: 2
Brodie: 4.5
Backlund: 2
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 3

32) Brodie breaks up the play and gets it to Ferland, who with great vision and a nice backhand pass springs Gaudreau on a breakaway

Monahan: 9
Ferland: 26.5
Gaudreau: 21
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 3
Kulak: 2
Brodie: 5.5
Backlund: 2
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 3

33) Ferland steals the puck. Monahan softly passes the puck to Gaudreau. Gaudreau does Gaudreau things and scores. All three deserve credit
Monahan: 10
Ferland: 27.5
Gaudreau: 22
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 3
Kulak: 2
Brodie: 5.5
Backlund: 2
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 3

34) Ferland picks up a loose puck that went off a Sharks shinpad and backhands it into the net

Monahan: 10
Ferland: 28
Gaudreau: 22
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 3
Kulak: 2
Brodie: 5.5
Backlund: 2
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 3

35) Ferland one-man sets up Gaudreau for a tap-in

Monahan: 10
Ferland: 29
Gaudreau: 22
Versteeg: 1.5
Giordano: 3
Kulak: 2
Brodie: 5.5
Backlund: 2
Bennett: 0.5
Bartkowski: 0.5
Hamilton: 3

I just don't think Monahan's contributions were significant to Ferland's success from a macro perspective considering just how much time Ferland spent stapled to Monahan. Naturally they did hook up on some nice goals together - they should as they're both top six forwards, but it really was "Gaudreau + Ferland" and then Monahan there too. Monahan did score more than Ferland last year - because he was playing a more significant role on special teams and 3 on 3, but at 5 on 5 I was and am pretty convinced Monahan was the third wheel on that line. Which I believe is in contrast with your assertion.

 

[Rubi]

Someone has way too much free time on their hands.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

The reason people don't think Monahan is elite is because he isn't flashy.

Actually, it's because he isn't elite.

He's a 30+ goal scoring talent, and those certainly are not dime-a-dozen, but overall he's not a player who would be the best center on 90%+ of playoff teams and 70%+ of non-playoff teams.

People think plenty of non-flashy players are still elite. Kopitar. Bergeron. Wheeler. Backstrom. Getzlaf. People don't need him to be flashier, they need him to be more effective, shift-for-shift. The harsh reality is that he's essentially a rich man's version of Matt Stajan but with much, much better shooting skill. And like a young 57 point Matt Stajan, his production isn't quite indicative of his impact.

Oh and with Johnny on any line he should be the play-maker I don't care if you have McDavid playing..

The best line I have seen Gaudreau play on was Gaudreau-Hopkins-MacKinnon and that was despite Hopkins being a relative weak link. I think the ultimate line for Gaudreau would be Gaudreau-MacKinnon-Ferland (or the closest thing the Flames have ever had which was Gaudreau-Bennett-Ferland) or Gaudreau-Malkin-MacKinnon. Anyways, the thing that stood out about Gaudreau-Hopkins-MacKinnon was that Gaudreau was not a one-dimensional playmaker, he was a more complete player because MacKinnon seriously drove play, and that was also the case when he had the benefit of Ferland last year, and it's been slightly but less-so the case with Lindholm this year. There is no justification for not having multiple playmakers on a line. It's asinine to say one guy should dilly-dally with the puck while everyone else watches.

 

[Bounces R Way]

This thread is now about axe grinding.

 

[Iggys Dome]

Is there a church of OKG? This dude sells bullshit better than a used car salesman, I'm in. Sam Bennett is a first line centre and Monahan is literally Matt Stajan.

 

[Mr Snrub]

I'm going to score this as follows:

Plays any fourth liner could execute don't get awarded a point.

Dynamic or high IQ plays which you would expect top line forward or top pair D get a point.

Half points will be awarded to guys who make solid plays on goals that the average top 9 NHLer can make.

He asked you to count primary assists, not make up some arbitrary point system built to confirm your own biases.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Me after seeing all the crap in this thread.

 

[Pirate King Luffy]

Hey, as long as Mony gets those winger goals it doesn’t matter to me.

 

[Calgareee]

I have now learned that ferland should have been our #1 centre and Monahan should have been the throw in for the Hanifin trade.

Damn you Treliving!!

 

[Flames Fanatic]

You guys play nicely with OKG in the GDT and now he's inventing his own measurements of points. Well done.

 

[Tofveve]

Every player has scoring slumps and the worst that Monahan had last year, even when he was injured... which was pretty well the whole season, was one 5 game slump and one 4 game slump. Even Gaudreau had a 5 game slump and a 4 game slump last year.
And to imply that Monahan has disappeared for 10-20 game chunks is being disingenuous. If Monahan remains injury free this year, I expect him to get 75-80 pts. Maybe then people will admit that he's a #1 center.

Not being disingenuous at all. I've followed him just as close as anyone and have been over this many times.

 

[Volica]

I like where this thread is going lol.

 

[Tofveve]

You do realize that if Monahan wasn't the things you are nitpicking on him for, he'd arguably be one of the best players in the leauge right?

He'd be like a lovechild between Patrice Bergeron and Jeff Carter, but adding them together.

He wasn't listed in SN's top 20 centres.

 

[Tofveve]

Has anyone actually seriously said he's not a number one centre? Because this thread just seems like a bunch strawmen being set up and knocked down.

Monahan's a number one centre but he's not a franchise centre (at least not thus far). Tiny samples won't change that. And maybe when he actually puts up multiple point per game seasons or better, the labels can change.

Not a lot of teams in NHL history have won the cup without a franchise centreman.

This.

As I've said several times before, it's not that he's not a good centre, it's whether or not we're sinking in the next 10+ years of this basically finished rebuild around this core. And it's as you say, there aren't many cup teams or perenial top teams that win and or contend without a franchise centeman. Canucks did it throughout Linden's career, but made it to the cup finals once largely due to Pavel Bure and Kirk McClean. And I wouldn't put Sean even on Linden's level.

Anyway, we'll see, he's had a pretty good start so far. Last year he had some lengthy stretches of near invisibility and the year before was worse. Maybe it's trending in the right direction though.

I promise everyone if he has a decently conisistent year I'll call it that.

 

[FlamerForLife]

This thread's amazing

 

[Bounces R Way]

Hard to believe this offence has produced the most goals in the league without all those Preferred Ferly Pointstm.